Fire breaks out on containership in Bay of Bengal

The Indian Coast Guard has deployed some of its vessels in response to a fire that had erupted on a cargo vessel in the Bay of Bengal on Monday, September 28.

The Malta-flagged 155-metre X-Press Godavari was sailing from Kelang to Kolkata with 506 containers on board and was some 130 kilometres off West Bengal when the blaze ignited.

The Indian Coast Guard patrol vessels ICGS Varad, ICGS Amogh, and ICGS Amrit Kaur later arrived at the scene to assist in search and rescue (SAR) and firefighting efforts.

The fire was declared under control by 14:30 UTC on Monday. No injuries have been reported among the containership’s 15 crew.

An Indian official said that the fire had originated from one of the containers.