A container ship exploded and caught fire.

At around 10:30 a.m. on June 9th, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) announced a serious container explosion and fire accident that occurred about 130 nautical miles northwest of the coast of Kerala, India.

The vessel involved in the explosion and fire was a 4,252 TEU container ship named Wan Hai 503, owned by Wan Hai Lines. The Mumbai Maritime Operations Center in India first reported the explosion below deck and immediately informed the relevant authorities. Images from the scene showed thick, grayish-black smoke billowing from the cargo hold. The vessel is still burning and drifting at sea. According to the Indian government's assessment, about 40 to 50 containers have been blown off the deck or burned and fallen into the sea.

The Indian Coast Guard has dispatched six vessels, including "Sachet", "Arunwesh", and "Samudra Prabhali", to participate in the rescue operation.

This vessel is serving on the CIX route from China to India operated by Wan Hai. This time, it is sharing the cargo space with other shipping companies such as HAPAG-LLOYD, EVERGREEN, and WAN HAI. The ship is fully loaded with goods transferred from Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shekou, and Singapore, and its destination is Port Barisan, Colombo, and Nawasiwa.

The Indian Coast Guard stated that the "Wan Hai 503" vessel was fully loaded with container goods at that time and had 22 crew members on board.

The accident resulted in 5 crew members being injured, while 4 others (2 Taiwanese crew members, 1 Indonesian crew member and 1 Burmese crew member) are still unaccounted for. Currently, the Indian Coast Guard has begun to extinguish the fire to control the situation.

Wan Hai stated in the submitted documents that the company is actively cooperating with relevant government agencies and insurance companies to fully rescue the seafarers and assist the shipping company in handling subsequent matters.

It is speculated that dangerous goods were being transported on that deck at that time. According to Indian media reports, the "Wan Hai 503" vessel carried four types of dangerous goods, namely flammable liquids (Class 3), flammable solids (Class 4.1), substances liable to spontaneous combustion (Class 4.2), and toxic substances (Class 6).

This is the second maritime accident that has occurred in Indian waters within two weeks.