Ship on fire: Thai national dead, Keralite among 3 critical

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/ KOCHI: A Thai sailor died while three others were seriously injured after a container vessel caught fire in Arabian Sea around 90 nautical miles off Thiruvananthapuram coast.
As many as 22 crew members of the ship, MV Maersk Honam, were rescued by a merchant ship near-by while four sailors were reported missing. A Coast Guard ship was deployed to pick up the three critically injured among them and dropped them at Vizhinjam.
They were admitted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital and have been identified as Depu Jayan, 31, of Thiruvananthapuram, Allan Ray Palka Gabulanis, 34, from the Philippines and Sukun Suvanna Peng, 36, from Thailand.
The container ship had left Singapore on March 1 and was travelling to Suez. It was 340 nautical miles from Agatti in Lakshwadeep Islands when an explosion took place around 8.40pm on Tuesday.
ALS Ceres, a merchant ship, was diverted to the spot by the Mumbai-based Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of the Coast Guard after getting a distress call from the ship around 9.45pm.
After dropping the injured at Thiruvnanthapuram, the merchant ship, which rescued the sailors, MV ALS Ceres set sail for Kochi, where it will stop by to transfer the remaining crew members and the body of the dead sailor. The ship is expected to reach Kochi at 11pm.
Cochin Port Trust officials said they had also arranged a bay for the ship to dock there if in case the merchant vessel needs it.