Kollam, May 26 - Containers from the Liberian cargo ship that sank off the Kerala coast have started washing up on the shore here after being washed away in the water. The coastal police said that some containers have been found on the south Kollam coast. The police said that there is no information yet about the number of containers that have washed up on the shore and the authorities are working to control the situation. However, police have been deployed in the affected areas.
According to the news, at least four containers have been seen on the coast of Kollam district so far. The authorities have appealed to the people to stay away from the containers. According to the authorities, there were a total of 640 containers on the ship, out of which 13 containers contained hazardous materials.
It may be recalled that the cargo ship capsized in the sea off the Kerala coast on Sunday, causing a huge oil spill. The oil is flowing at a speed of about three kilometres per hour, prompting a statewide alert as it could hit the environmentally sensitive Kerala coast. According to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the sunken ship had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks. Officials said some of the containers contained hazardous materials like calcium carbide, which releases highly flammable acetylene gas when it comes into contact with seawater. The ICG is coordinating pollution control operations and monitoring the spread of the oil spill.