Huge Explosion On Singapore Cargo Ship Off Kerala Coast, Crew Members Suffer Injury, INS Surat Rushed In

Kochi: A huge explosion occurred under deck onboard a Singapore-based cargo vessel near Kerala coast. According to reports, four crew members are missing while 5 others are reportedly injured. At least 4 coast guards ships have been deployed in the fire fighting operation.

The explosion at the cargo ship was reported when the vessel was off the coast of Beypore in Kozhikode. The vessel is a Singapore-flagged container ship, 270 m long and with a draught of 12.5m, with LPC Colombo.

The vessel departed Colombo on June 7 with NPC Mumbai, 10 June, Indian Navy PRO informed.

Issuing a statement based on latest developments, Indian Coast Guard PRO said, “MV WAN HAI 503 on passage from Colombo to Nhava Sheva reported an explosion under deck in position 315, Kochi 130. 04 crew reported missing and 05 crew injured. The ship was carrying containerised cargo with a total crew of 22. CGDO on task diverted for assessment. ICGS Rajdoot off New Mangalore, ICGS Arnvesh off Kochi & ICGS Sachet off Agatti diverted for assistance.”

Out of the 18 crew rescued so far, one is reported to have sustained serious injuries. The four members who are reportedly missing include two Taiwanese nationals, one each from Indonesia and Myanmar. However, a search operation to locate missing crew members is underway.

The fire onboard the container vessel had spread to other containers forcing the crew members to abandon the ship using life rafts.

The Indian Coast Guard has further informed that at around 9:30 AM on Monday, they received a distress alert from the Singapore-flagged container vessel Wan Hai 503, regarding an explosion and subsequent fire onboard one of the containers, 88 Nautical miles from the coast of Beypore. 

The vessel had departed the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, with 22 crew onboard on June 6, 2025, for the Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai with an estimated time of arrival on June 9, he said. 

Upon receiving the information, the Indian Coast Guard assets were diverted immediately and are coordinating rescue operations for the crew. As of 12:40 PM, the fire has been reported to have spread to other containers, and the crew has abandoned the vessel into life rafts, he added.

ICG Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai, diverted MV One Marvel, which recovered 18 of the crew. Of the 18 crew rescued, one is reported to have sustained serious injuries. 4 crew members including (2 Taiwanese, 1 Indonesian and 1 Myanmarese) are missing from the time of explosion and their search is in progress. ICG Dornier aircraft is maintaining overhead the vessel for real-time assessment, the Indian Coast Guard mentioned.