Fire breaks out on ship off Karnataka coast; 16 scientists, crew onboard rescued | PHOTOS

A major fire onboard a research vessel carrying 36 crew members and 16 scientists was extinguished by the Indian Coast Guard in Karnataka on Friday (March 15) night. The vessel was located around 35 nautical miles from the Mangaluru coast. No casualties were reported at the time of filing the report.

Two Indian Coast Guard vessels were alerted at about 10 pm after which they had sent two of its ships to douse the fire, along with other merchant vessels.

The ships named ICGS Vikram and ICGS Sujay, engaged in firefighting operations as soon as they reached the spot. After some time, the ships managed to put out the fire and escort the crew to safety. The research vessel headed towards Mangaluru for additional shore assistance if needed, the Coast Guard said in the tweet.

The ship which caught fire was a research vessel belonging to the Shipping Corporation of India or SCI, named Sagar Sampada. The origin of the fire in the research vessel is not yet known.

Taking to Twitter, the Coast Guard tweeted, along with photos of the successful fire-fighting operation.

Also, the research vessel was equipped to carry out research in marine biology and fishery, reported a news agency.