Smoke billows out of MV SSL Kolkata on Sunday. Picture courtesy Coast Guard

Calcutta: Choppy waters on Sunday forced a salvage team aboard a tugboat to give up attempts to get close to the abandoned cargo ship that caught fire four days ago near the Sunderbans coast.

The team was approaching MV SSL Kolkata on a Calcutta Port Trust vessel when heavy shoaling in the Bay of Bengal - it is the effect by which surface waves entering shallower water change in wave height - forced them to turn back.

The Bay of Bengal is around eight nautical miles from the Sunderbans.

The cargo ship has been adrift in shallow waters since June 14, when the Coast Guard rescued its 22-member crew.

The salvage team comprising experts from the multinational company SMIT has been hired by Shreyas Shipping and Logistics, the owner of the cargo ship.

On Saturday morning, a navy team and three crew members of the MV SSL Kolkata had descended on the ship from a Sea King 42C helicopter. The team managed to drop the starboard (right) anchor of the ship that had till then been drifting towards the maritime border with Bangladesh.

Two officials from SMIT were airlifted by the Coast Guard in a Dornier aircraft for a close aerial survey of the ship, an officer said.

The Coast Guard will make an attempt on Monday to take the salvage team till the abandoned ship.

An officer in the Calcutta Port Trust said the fire had not yet affected the hold that contains chemicals. "Thick iron plates separate one hold from another. This is why the fire has not yet reached the cargo hold where the chemicals are kept. But we do not know how long the partition will work if the fire continues to rage."

There is also the danger of structural damage to the ship if the fire continues to burn.

No oil or chemical spill has been reported so far.

Two advanced offshore patrol vessels with fire-fighting and pollution response capabilities have been maintaining a round-the-clock vigil on the ship. Four hovercraft of the Coast Guard are on standby at the Fraserganj forward operating base to help the salvage team, if needed.

Three other Coast Guard vessels and pollution control equipment have been kept ready at the Haldia port for immediate deployment in the event of an oil spill.

MV SSL Kolkata was abandoned by its captain and crew after flames aided by strong winds spread to 70 per cent of the ship, then positioned about 55 nautical miles from Sagar Island.</s>Kolkata, June 18 (IANS) The raging fire in MV SSL Kolkata that began on June 14 night in the Bay of Bengal was finally extinguished on Sunday, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.

The mission, led by Wg Cdr Nikhil Mehrotra along with Flt Lt Atul Mishra, was achieved by deploying a Mi-17 V-5 helicopter.

The helicopter operated from Frazerganj Harbour helipad which, though small in size, was nearest to the location of the container vessel on fire.

With support from the Indian Coast Guard and the harbour officials, approximately 15,000 litres of water was poured over the burning ship in six shuttles.

“Being surrounded by thick smoke emanating from the ship deck, it was a huge challenge to maintain clear of the tall structures on the ship like the cargo cranes and yet deliver the water spray from an appropriate height for it to be most effective,” said Wg Cdr Mehrotra.</s>The fire on board a container ship in the Bay of Bengal was extinguished with the help of an Indian Air Force helicopter, around 65 hours after it was reported, a senior defence official said tonight.The Coast Guard said there had been no oil spillage from the MV SSL Kolkata which caught fire on Thursday night and was abandoned by its crew who were later rescued.The fire that was reported around 11 pm on June 14 was finally doused at around 4 pm today with an Mi-17 V5 helicopter pouring water on the burning ship from a Bambi bucket, Wing Commander S S Birdi said.The Air Force swung into action after receiving a call at its helicopter unit based at Barrackpore IAF Station near here this morning. The mission was led by Wing Commander Nikhil Mehrotra, along with Flight Lieutenant Atul Mishra.The helicopter arrived at Frazergunj harbour helipad, the nearest to the location of the ill-fated vessel, at 1.15 pm, Birdi said in a statement."With the support of the Coast Guard and harbour officials, the helicopter was airborne by 2.15 pm. The burning ship was soon located and approximately 15,000 litres of water was poured in six shuttles," he said.Having completed the task in less than 90 minutes, the helicopter flew back to Frazergunj.Mehrotra was quoted by a defence official that it was a huge challenge to maintain clear of the tall structures of the ship such as cargo cranes, with the chopper being surrounded by thick smoke.With each passing shuttle, it was also important to assess the pattern of fire for the next release."Needless to say that pilot's skill counts most on the effectiveness of such a mission and we did achieve it within minutes, considering the number of days for which the fire has been burning," Mehrotra said."There was no fire on the ship and it was upright and stationary, with no oil spillage," Birdi said, quoting a senior Coast Guard official.The Coast Guard Regional Commander Inspector General Kuldip Singh Sheoran said although the fire had been doused, the pollution response teams and various Coast Guard assets were in a state of readiness, should a need arise.A marine commando of the Navy and three members of the crew dropped the starboard anchor of the vessel yesterday in a daring operation after they were winched down on the blazing ship from a Seaking 42C helicopter to arrest its drift towards the International Maritime Border Line with Bangladesh.The spot was eight nautical miles off the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, Sheoran said.MV SSL Kolkata was abandoned by its captain and 21 other crew members after 70 per cent of the ship carrying containerised cargo was on fire in the Bay of Bengal, about 55 nautical miles from Sagar Island in West Bengal The 148-metre-long ship was carrying 464 containers and 211 metric tonnes of heavy fuel on board and caught fire while sailing from Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Haldia port, according to the Coast Guard.</s>A container ship was still seen emitting smoke today despite an Indian Air Force chopper having put off its fire yesterday, a Defence official said. The smoke was seen billowing out of MV SSL Kolkata today during a visual recce by the Coast Guard aircraft, he added. “A recce by a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft this morning revealed that smoke continues to emanate though there is no visible flame,” Defence spokesperson Wing Commander S S Birdi said. The Coast Guard has again flown a Dornier aircraft to carry out a visual assessment of the situation on the ship this evening, which was anchored about 8 nautical miles from Sunderbans. An Air Force Mi-17 helicopter has been stationed at Frazerganj harbour helipad, the nearest possible location to the vessel “in case there is a requirement to once again carry out the dousing operations,” he said.

A Coast Guard spokesperson said “no oil spill has been observed around the vessel.” The spokesperson said the Coast Guard ships are maintaining round the clock vigil in the vicinity of SSL Kolkata. “Four hovercraft at Frazerganj and two Coast Guard ships in Haldia are on standby for any support and, particularly pollution response, if situation arises,” the spokesperson said. The fire that was reported around 11 pm on June 14.

An Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the Air Force had poured 15,000 litres of water on the burning ship yesterday from a Bambi bucket in six shuttles. A marine commando of the Navy and three members of the crew dropped the starboard anchor of the vessel on Saturday in a daring operation after they were winched down on the blazing ship from a Seaking 42C helicopter to arrest its drift towards the International Maritime Border Line with Bangladesh.

The spot was eight nautical miles off the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. MV SSL Kolkata was abandoned by its captain and 21 other crew members after 70 per cent of the ship carrying containerised cargo went on fire in the Bay of Bengal, about 55 nautical miles from Sagar Island in West Bengal. The 148-metre-long ship was carrying 464 containers and 211 metric tonnes of heavy fuel on board and caught fire while sailing from Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Haldia port, according to the Coast Guard.</s>According to a report, the Indian Air Force on Monday carried out a major rescue operation in the Bay of Bengal to help douse a fire that had broken out onboard a merchant vessel. While carrying out the operation, the IAF dropped gallons of water on the fire to put it out. The forces responded to a call for aid from the vessel named MV SSL Kolkata. The report suggests that the ship was off the shore of the Sunderbans in the state of West Bengal.

The helicopters were deployed to the accident spot from the help at the Frazergunj Harbour. The forces first analysed the pattern of wind and then used a helicopter bucket to drop water on the fire.

Speaking to media, an official having the knowledge of the incident, said that the IAF dropped as much as 15000 litres and made 6 water runs on the fire in order to bring the situation under control. The IAF o its social media platforms also lauded his crew for great professionalism and dropping water on the exact location of the fire. The operations by IAF Mi-17 V5 Helicopter controlled the massive fire and fully doused it within a short period of time, read a post by the IAF.

On a closer look, the Mil MI-17 is a Russian helicopter which is among the mainstays of the Indian Air Force. Notably, these helicopters have been used by the personnel in scores of scenarios, including 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods and the 2014 Kashmir floods among others. These kinds of helicopters are been used by the IAF in order to airdrop food and other materials to the victims residing in the affected areas.</s>New Delhi: In a complex and courageous operation, a Seaking 42 C helicopter from the Eastern Naval Command winched down one Marco officer on the ill-fated merchant vessel SSL Kolkata which had been on fire since the last two days and abandoned by the 22 crew members on June 14, 2018 off the Sagar Island at the mouth of the Ganges Delta.

The marine commando officer ascertained the conditions in the forward part of the ship and later called in the helicopter to lower onboard three crew members of the ship. The team managed to drop the starboard anchor from the ship to prevent her from drifting any further.

Thereafter the team prepared the seamanship gear for the ship to be towed if required. The live nature of the threat was evident from the explosion onboard in the forenoon which restarted the fire. It skillfully recovered all four members of the team and is returning base for turnaround.

Earlier, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh , Commanding- in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, had directed that the ship drift towards the Sundarbans delta had to be stopped at all costs notwithstanding the high temperatures onboard to avoid an ecological disaster should the ship capsize on the sandbanks causing pollution from oil onboard.

Accordingly, a Seaking 42C helicopter and a Dornier aircraft were dispatched from Visakhapatnam with a core team comprising divers, Marcos, shipwrights and seamanship specialists to stage through the IAF airbase at Kalaikonda. Simultaneously, the Naval Officer-in-charge West Bengal liaise with the officials of the DG Shipping, ICG, KOPT, the ship owners, Agents and Salvage specialists at Kolkata and kept them informed of the plans.

INS Kadmatt which was exercising in the Bay of Bengal on June 15 was directed to proceed at best speed and arrived on site at first light this morning i.e. June 16 June to augment the onsite support wherein the ICG ships were also standing by. The operation this morning has successfully managed to arrest further drift of the ship to enable salvage operations by the company.

For breaking news & Instant updates throughout the day</s>Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) With smoke continuing to emanate from the merchant vessel MV SSL Kolkata, which was devastated by a raging fire in the Bay of Bengal on June 14, a Dornier helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was deployed on Monday evening to carry out a visual assessment of the situation, according to a Defence Ministry spokesperson.

On Sunday, the ministry had announced that the fire had been extinguished.

“After the dousing of the fire on-board MV SSL Kolkata yesterday (Sunday) by the Air Force, a visual recce was immediately conducted by ICG which brought out that smoke was seen emanating from the vessel,” the spokesperson said.

A recce by the Dornier on Monday morning showed that the smoke continued to billow out from the ship, “though there was no visible flame”.

In view of the situation, one ICG Dornier was again launched at 6 p.m on Monday to make a visual assessment of the situation, he said.

Meanwhile, an Air Force Mi-17 held position in Frazerganj in case there was a need to carry out dousing operations.</s>Kolkata, June 18 (IANS) With Kolkata and large parts of southern West Bengal’s districts reeling under a heat wave, the government has decided to extend summer vacation in government schools across the state upto June 30, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said on Monday.

In Kolkata, as also many other district towns, the mercury continued to hover above 40 degrees Celsius, alongside a high humidity level, causing discomfort for the people.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre here, the maximum recorded temperature in the eastern metropolis reached around 40.6 degrees – almost 7 degrees above average. The minimum temperature was around 30 degrees, 3 degrees above normal.

The relative humidity touched 65 per cent in the morning and 47 per cent in the evening, causing immense distress. The RH determines the impact of heat and humidity together on the skin.

The maximum temperature was 40.7 degrees in Purulia and 42.2 degrees in Bankura.

With guardians across the state speaking out on the difficulties for children to step out in the scorching heat, Chatterjee announced the extension of the summer vacation, which was earlier scheduled to be over on Tuesday.

“The summer vacation in state run schools from primary to the higher secondary level will be extended from June 20-June 30,” he said.

The government will also talk to the private schools on the need to extend the relief to their students.

Meanwhile, the Met department has warned that the oppressive weather would continue over the next 48 hours.

“Due to weak monsoon flow and prevailing strong West to Northwesterly winds in lower levels, moderate heat wave condition (is) likely to prevail over the districts of Gangetic West Bengal including Kolkata during next 48 hours,” the Met department said in a statement.

However, north Bengal is facing cloudy skies with one or two spells of rain. But there is no possibility of rain in southern parts.
A second attempt is made to extinguish burning container ship MV SSL Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal off India after rough conditions prompted an abandonment of yesterday's efforts.