July 21 (Indian Express) - Fire-fighting operations continued for the second straight day Saturday to contain a major fire that broke out on the Panama-flagged cargo merchant vessel ‘MV Maersk Frankfurt’, with the Indian Coast Guard confirming that one crew member had been killed.

Sources from the Coast Guard said one Filipino seaman may have been killed in an explosion caused by the fire while trying to put it out on Friday. The vessel, which was going from Mundra port in Gujarat to Colombo in Sri Lanka, had a crew of 21 on board.

The fire is believed to have been caused by a short circuit. “The fire has not been completely doused, but it has come down to a controllable level. Since the fire is around the metal containers, it gets reignited… We are now air-dropping 150 kgs of dry chemical powder bags to control the fire,” one officer said, adding that the rest of the crew is safe.

In a statement it issued at 3 pm Saturday, the Coast Guard said the vessel was 17 miles from Karwar, Karnataka.

“The fire in the forepart of the vessel has been suppressed, but heavy smoke continues to emanate and the fire has reignited in the midship area. ICG ships Sachet, Sujeet and Samrat are actively engaged in fire-fighting operations. A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft has conducted an aerial assessment of the situation. Additionally, an advanced light helicopter Dhruv helicopter was launched from New Mangalore for Goa, to conduct an assessment of the vessel enroute and evaluate the feasibility of deploying dry chemical powder bags,” the statement said, adding that a specialised pollution control vessel, Samudra Prahari, is being deployed to provide further assistance.

At present, there is no requirement for the evacuation of the crew, the statement said.