A Montenegrin sailor is a member of the crew of the container ship "Maersk Frankfurt" on which an explosion and fire broke out yesterday afternoon while this 255-meter-long ship of 76.500 tons was sailing in the Indian Ocean between the port of Mundra in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka.
As reported by the Indian media, referring to the Coast Guard of India, one of the sailors from the 21-member crew of the "Maesrk Frankfurt" - a sailor from the Philippines - died in the explosion and fire that broke out on the bow of the ship.
The rest of the crew, among whom are 16 Filipinos, two Ukrainians, one Russian and one seaman from Montenegro, are still on the ship, which is floating, carried by the wind and waves of the strong monsoon.
"Maersk Frankfurt" is currently on AIS, broadcasting a signal that the ship is "not under control".
The explosion and fire among the counter-trainers located on the bow of "Maersk Frankfurt" occurred while the ship was about a hundred nautical miles southwest of the coast of the West Indian state of Goa, on its way to Sri Lanka.
For now, it is not known for sure what caused the detonation and fire, but it is known that the cargo manifest of "Maersk Frankfurt" shows that the ship, in addition to other cargo, also carries substances that are officially classified as IMDG - International Maritime Dangerous Goods.
According to some unofficial information, the fire allegedly occurred due to an electrical short circuit that caused an explosion in which a Filipino sailor was killed, and the outbreak of a fire that all the efforts of the crew to put it out could not overcome.
The fire quickly spread to other containers, the contents of which also exploded, and initial estimates indicate that at least twenty containers on the bow deck of "Maersk Frankfurt" were affected by the fire.
The Mayday call for help from a container ship sailing under the flag of Panama was responded to by the Indian Coast Guard, which immediately sent one of its patrol planes and one ship to the distressed ship.
After the initial assessment of the situation from the air, which confirmed that the ship was threatened by a large fire that developed on its bow, three additional vessels of the Coast Guard of India were sent to "Maersk Frankfurt" and started the fire extinguishing operation.
Although attempts to put out the fire have been going on for more than 14 hours, reportedly, the rest of the crew of the Panamanian container ship is not currently in immediate danger to their lives and they have not yet been evacuated from the burning ship - extinguishing this fire from other vessels is made difficult by unfavorable weather conditions - large waves and a strong southwesterly monsoon wind.
Indian Coast Guard ships are trying to put out the fire burning on the "Maersk Frankfurt" using water cannons and special fire-fighting foam.
As reported by the Indian media, their Coast Guard is making enormous efforts to control the fire and ensure the safety of the remaining crew members of the "Maersk Frankfurt" as well as to prevent a possible environmental disaster that would result from its sinking because, among other things, there are over 1.400 tons of fuel on the endangered ship. .
"Maersk Frankfurt" is a completely new ship that left the Imabari shipyard in Japan, where it was built, only four months ago.
Its owners are Japanese, the ship, which has a capacity of 5.920 containers, is managed by the German company "Bernard Schulte", and this container ship was given in time-charter to the famous multinational shipping company "Maersk Line".
The company officially confirmed that an explosion and fire occurred on "Maersk Frankfurt" on Friday around 14.30:XNUMX p.m. local time when the ship was sailing from Mundra to Colombo.
"The fire is being extinguished with the help of the Coast Guard of India. The ship is in a stable condition. At this moment, we cannot talk about the extent of the damage caused by the fire on the ship. We are in constant contact with the owner and manager of the ship. The safety of the crew is in our the main priority at the moment," Maersk Line announced briefly.
Bonus video:
