The night’s silence outside the Emergency Medical Department of AJ Hospital and Research Center in Karnataka’s coastal city of Mangaluru was shattered by a siren-fidant ambulance on 9 June, which reached the hospital care as well as a couple of naval employees, to expel the patients, some of them in a significant condition.
Six patients were among 18 crew members, who were rescued MV Van is 503A 27 meter long Singapore-Flagged cargo ship, which caught fire that morning at a distance of about 44 knots from the Azikkal coast in Kannur. The ship had 22 crew members and four of them, two from Taiwan, one from Indonesia, and one from Myanmar, was reported to be missing.
The Indian Coast Guard and a joint team of the Indian Navy are engaged in the rescue operations of the middle-community. The vessel left Colombo in Sri Lanka on 7 June and was scheduled to reach Mumbai on 10 June. One of the containers caught fire in an explosion, causing a fire, causing an unprecedented crisis to enter the middle-sea, as the plums of smoking soon roamed the air.
The handout photograph, which was taken by the Indian Coast Guard on June 10 and released, shows smoke billing from Singapore-Flagged container ship MV Van is 503 It covered a distance of about 44 knots from the Azikkal coast in Kerala. , Photo Credit: Indian Coast Guard/ AFP
The disaster in Kerala closed the alarm bell, as this incident took place a few weeks later. MSc Elsa 3The Liberia-Flagged container ship, drowned from the Kochi coast on 25 May. While the authorities were struggling with the effect of this phenomenon on the maritime and coastal environment, another tragedy has revealed more serious questions about maritime security and potential risks and such accidents have humans as well as marine ecosystem.
Cargo manifested MV Van is 503 The ship shows that the ship had 1,754 containers, of which 143 had dangerous substances. In the material, the material classified by the international maritime organization has its own class 3 (flammable fluid), class 4.1 (flammable solid), class 4.2 (substances responsible for spontaneous combustion), class 4.3 (with substances, when in contact with water, class 6.1 (emission of toxins), classes 6.1 (Production of toxins). Health concerns have increased from.
C. Anulexmi, Senior Scientist and Prominent, Kozhikode Regional Station, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) says that the short -term influence of chemicals or debris of debris involves immediate damage to marine life, causing immediate damage to marine life, causing death of organisms, and decreased water quality.
“These effects can range from direct poisoning to organisms, residence destruction and disintegration of ecosystems. These areas may have a mixture of water, water stream and air. The water is likely to weaken the chemicals in the water. There will be immediate effect on the organisms around the ship.”
Chemicals can poison the sedentary and bentic marine organisms as they can accumulate dangerous materials in their body. The organisms in the Neritic zone can go to a safe place away from the vengeance, the sun-dwellers, the place of the sea above the continental shelf. She says that all these depend on the amount of chemicals.
“If dangerous chemicals spread to the sea, they can immediately affect the plankts in the surrounding places, which can further affect all organisms in that area. These original parts of the food chain will not be available to marine organisms and will affect the food chain. Dynamic, and flexible,” anulekshmi.
The injured crew members of the fire are on June 9, a Singapore-Flagged container ship MV Wan, shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru. , Photo Credit: Indian Coast Guard
Rajiv S. Menon, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Calicut University say that most dangerous items on the ship are widely used for the production of general polymers, resins, pesticides and other advanced fine chemicals.
Cargo reflects the presence of nitroselulose with manifest alcohol. “A mixture and dispersion of nitroselulose in seawater will prevent explosions, and it is probably the most desirable result for hope, as it is a non-axle. Chloronein, 1,2,3-tricholorobenzene, nephtheline, benzophnet, and chemicals as massage. Duration.
Hydrobromic acid and phosphoric acid, which contain highly corrosive acids, are soluble in water and will quickly spread to seawater. When mixed, they will cause a localized, short -term dip in the pH (measuring its acidity or alkalinity), which can be harmful to aquatic life.
He says that a straight reading of the dangers listed of these chemicals can be a bit misleading because their mixture with a large amount of seawater will significantly reduce and disintegrate.
Meanwhile, the recurrence of such incidents and the upcoming threat to large -scale pollution faced, central ports, shipping and waterways and agencies such as Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), are in the process of preparing an action plan to enhance India’s maritime structure and prevent/reduce the impact of such incidents.
Sources say that two back-to-back incidents on the Kerala coast have determined bare vulnerable weaknesses in India’s marine regulatory architecture. There has been a wake-up call for stakeholders delayed in emergency response in view of the issues of complex ownership, dangerous cargo, and drowning.
“The proposed action plan attracts major lessons from recent events, which underlines a broad set, which includes marine safety, environmental protection and institutional readiness,” MMD officials say, “says MMD officials say.
These include the upliftment of port infrastructure and responsibilities and ensuring the availability of rope infrastructure, and improving efficiency in crisis reaction. To meet the increasing number of ships, India must expand its approved strength of Port State Control Officers, which is now facing 40% vacancy rate. Sources of MMD say that they also need to equip with advanced digital inspection equipment.
The leaders of the trade union in the fishermen are concerned about the impact of accidents on the livelihood options of fishermen. Recurring accidents, they are afraid, may barely kill fishermen.
Representatives of trade unions in the fisheries sector say that inspections at the ports need to be improved, including the new opening in Vizinjam.
Charles George, Chairman, Kerala Matsyathozhilly Aikya Vedi, note that the sinking of Liberia-Flagged MSc Elsa 3 If the ballast-water management was fully fitness inspected in Vizinism, it could be stopped.
He said, “There is more than a fortnight delay in registering a case against the firm, the owner of the vessel. Why are there ships that are over 25 years old, which is allowed to operate ports in India with dangerous cargo,” he said.
Officials of the ports of the center, shipping and waterways say that older vessels do not always need to be disqualified for use, especially if they have been given security certificate by classification societies.
He said, “Efforts are being made to introduce reforms in the region. While on June 13, the oil-rickive process from the Alappuzha coast is set as a deadline to complete the process, the target is to abolish the multi-agency response and disposal efforts running on July 4, which is being led by the Directorate General of Shipping,” they say.
News about possible contamination in marine organisms, including fish, after the accident, forced some people in Kerala to leave their diet and choose meat. Changes in dietary practice killed fish vendors such as Sridavi Latesh, who used to travel daily with fish from their home in Kochi in Kochi by bus.
“Despite financial difficulties, I had to take a break from selling fish for more than a week due to a decline in fish demand from homes,” she says that the demand for fish is not yet.
Meanwhile, CMFRI officials are collecting water and sediment samples from the coastal areas of Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram and are constantly monitoring fisheries around there.
A senior official says that only small fishing ships are running in these areas due to the ongoing monsoon traval ban. “So far, there is no report of dead fish on the coast or at the fishing places. Currently, the market available in the market is mainly coming from the coastal areas of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. There may be no serious concern about consuming fish,” says the official.
Five Coast Guard, two Dornear aircraft and a helicopter are engaged in rescue missions. The primary focus is to restrict the movement of the ship, which is the adrift. According to the central agencies involved in the mission, the vessel will be taken to a safe place to prevent potential ecological disaster.
Recurring marine accidents have called for a comprehensive study on ship accidents and safety and precautionary measures, as Kerala’s sea routes are busy after the Vizinjam International Port commission.
,John L. in Kochi. With Paul’s input,
Published – June 12, 2025 08:41 pm IST
