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. 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. 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 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. 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. "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.
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.