Drift and oil spill advisory issued after fire on container ship off Kerala coast

Kochi: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued advisories warning of drifting containers and a potential oil spill following a major fire on the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Wan Hai 503. The ship caught fire off the Kerala coast on June 9. The ship, which was en route to Nhava Sheva, Mumbai from Colombo, experienced an explosion in one of its containers, sparking a massive onboard fire while sailing roughly 70 nautical miles off Kozhikode. The vessel is currently adrift. In response, INCOIS activated its Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) to track possible drift patterns of containers, debris, or people who may have gone overboard. According to the latest simulations, there is a 70–80 per cent probability that drifting objects may move south-southeastward from the incident site over the next three days.

"Simulations show that the containers are likely to continue to drift in the ocean for the next three days and might take longer to reach the beach. However, caution is advised about a few containers beaching between Kozhikode and Kochi. The situation is closely monitored and updated drift directions will be provided," INCOIS said in a statement. Local authorities have been urged to step up coastal surveillance and prepare communities for possible navigational or shoreline hazards, it said. In parallel, INCOIS also ran its Oil Spill Trajectory System, which models the movement of a hypothetical 100-ton bunker oil spill from the vessel. Though the exact quantity of any spillage is still unknown, forecast simulations suggest the oil would drift parallel to the coastline from June 10 through June 13, with continuous monitoring underway. "At approximately 1600 hours on 12 June, the spill is projected to maintain this trajectory. By 1600 hours on 13 June, the pollutant is expected to have progressed further in parallel direction along the coast," it said. The advisory includes visual projections of potential oil movement, showing both floating and beached oil particles.