Container ship on fire in Bay of Bengal, 22 crew members rescued
Kolkata, June 14: The Indian Coast Guard on Thursday rescued all 22 crew members of a merchant container vessel after a devastating fire broke out in the ship in the Bay of Bengal, a senior coast guard official said here.
The container ship, MV SSL Kolkata, that was on its way to the city, had gone ablaze on Wednesday night, the officer said.
"Our coast guard ship arrived in the area in the morning. The captain decided to save the crew and abandon the ship. On his request, we have successfully picked up all the 22 survivors. As of now, all 22 people are being brought to Haldia in the coast guard ship," Coast Guard Commander (NE) Inspector General K.S. Sheoran said here.
"The sea was very bad at the accident site. There were high waves and the wind was very strong. Almost 60-70 percent of the ship was on fire by that time," he said.
The reason of the fire is still not confirmed.
According to the Coast Guard, the owners of the ship, Shreyas Shipping & Logistics have hired tugboats from the nearby ports that would work on salvage operation of the remaining goods, unaffected in the blaze.
"The owner of the ship has hired big tugboats from Haldia port and Dhamra port in Odisha. They have also engaged salvage companies from Singapore. The salvage operations will start after sometime. The first priority was to save the captain and the crew, which the coast guard has done successfully," the officer added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Thieves break into forest officer’s house in Ullal, decamp with bike, jewellery and ₹10.5 lakh cash
Mangaluru: Thieves broke into the rented house of a forest officer in the Kotekar sub-division of Ullal and stole a motorbike, ₹10.5 lakh in cash and gold and silver jewellery weighing about 181 grams, police said. The incident came to light on Thursday morning after Mehboob returned home from his native after nearly one week
The victim, Mehboob Saab Gudihola, had been living in the house with his wife and child for the past six months. According to the complaint, the family had travelled to their native place in Koppal on Friday.
The theft came to light when Gudihola returned home on Thursday morning and found that the house had been broken into.
In his complaint to police, Gudihola said the accused had entered the house through the main door and broke open cupboards in two rooms. The thieves allegedly stole gold and silver jewellery weighing around 181 grams, including ornaments belonging to the child.
They also took away ₹10.5 lakh in cash, which Gudihola told police he had brought home after availing a bank loan. In addition, a motorbike parked on the premises was also stolen.
Following the complaint, Ullal Police registered a case and launched an investigation. A dog squad and forensic experts visited the house and conducted an inspection.
