Container smouldering on vessel: situation under control, say officials

The container vessel MV XPresse Godavari, with 15 crew members on-board, is expected to arrive Kolkata docks from the Sandheads by Tuesday afternoon, they said. The Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal, nearly 130 km from Haldia, is a stretch of open sea where vessels anchor before being allowed to dock at the port.

A container was smouldering on a vessel anchored at the Sandheads off the West Bengal coast on Monday but the situation has been brought under control, officials said. The container vessel MV XPresse Godavari, with 15 crew members on-board, is expected to arrive Kolkata docks from the Sandheads by Tuesday afternoon, they said.

The Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal, nearly 130 km from Haldia, is a stretch of open sea where vessels anchor before being allowed to dock at the port. "A container was smouldering on vessel MV Xpress Godavari. Boundary cooling operation is in progress," Kolkata Port Chairman Vinit Kumar said.

"Boundary cooling" is a process of cooling down the periphery of a hot area to stop the spread of heat or fire. The vessel was anchored there on Sunday night and the container was found emitting smoke in the morning.

"However, the situation is under control now," a senior port official said. Coast Guard had been altered for assistance in the morning and now, three of its vessels have reached near XPress Godavari to prevent any untoward incident.

A Port Trust tug - small, powerful boat used for towing larger boats and ships has started for the spot to take the vessel to the docks and it is expected to reach here on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.