Panaji: On July 19, the ICG received a distress call regarding a fire on the MV Maersk Frankfurt, which is a merchant navy vessel sailing near the Goa coast. It is being reported that the situation is under control now. Unfortunately, one crew member had been burnt to death by the fire. It was on its way from Mundra in Gujarat to Colombo in Sri Lanka, and it was about 102 nautical miles away from Goa when it caught fire while it was laden with 1,154 containers filled with different kinds of dangerous goods hazardous to health, such as benzene and sodium cyanide.
Deputy Inspector General of the ICG, Manoj Bhatia, said that dry chemical powder dropped using helicopters on Saturday immensely assisted in fighting the fire. The part containing the hazardous material in the Merchant Navy has not been impacted by the fire. Correspondent Bhatia insisted that the fire was contained, but the fire was not out entirely. There are also four operational ships and over helicopters being involved in extinguishing the fire and for keeping the vessel safe from further mishaps, the ICG is mooring it away from the coastline.
The ICG has informed the state agencies to stay ready for oil contamination, although no oil has been spread until now. Contingency measures are also followed for any eventualities concerning the environmental effects of disasters. They observed that a fire, apparently of the kind witnessed by Bhatia, takes at least three to four days to bring under control and that continuous supervision is required as the location remains rather hot for quite a while.
He also stressed the fact that there could have been a massive disaster if the fire had extended to the hazardous goods area. At the present time, there is no severe injury on the ship or any existing threats to some of the remaining crew members; all precautions are being taken to deal with the problem properly.
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