Containership Wan Hai 503 To Be Towed To Middle East 78 Days After Onboard Fire

The containership Wan Hai 503, which suffered a major fire at sea earlier this year, is finally being towed toward the Middle East after spending nearly 11 weeks (78 days) without a port of refuge.

Wan Hai Lines confirmed in its latest update on August 25 that the tow is now underway. The company said the vessel’s stability, structural integrity, and draft are safe for towing, and its route across the Arabian Sea has been checked with weather-routing software.

Salvors and the shipping company are monitoring the operation closely to ensure the ship arrives safely at the chosen port. However, the final port of refuge has not yet been decided.

The vessel’s crew reported an explosion followed by a fire on June 9, while sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Nhava Sheva, India. At that time, the ship was about 50 nautical miles off the Indian coast.

Quick response by @IndiaCoastGuard after explosion on #Singapore flagged MV #WANHAI503, 130 NM NW of #Kerala coast.
#ICG aircraft assessed the scene & dropped air-droppable
04 #ICG ships diverted for rescue.#MaritimeSafety #ICG #SearchAndRescue pic.twitter.com/xVPEShbU8h

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) June 9, 2025

After the incident, India quickly ordered its ports not to accept the vessel. Later in June, Indian authorities also directed salvage tugs to remove the ship from its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). For weeks, the ship remained near the EEZ boundary while salvage teams worked onboard.

Sri Lanka also rejected an application to berth the vessel, adding to the challenges of finding a safe harbor. Per reports, efforts were also made to seek help from the Singapore Maritime and Ports Authority, as Singapore is the vessel’s flag state, but no agreement was reached.

Although flames were no longer visible in recent weeks, salvage teams reported that one hold continued to show smoldering, though temperatures were gradually reduced. They also managed to dewater the engine room and the cargo holds.

Nobody can deny that @IndiaCoastGuard has done extraordinary work in the last few weeks and months. Here they are dropping bags with (probably) monoammonium phosphate (MAP) or ammonium sulfate, on the burning containers on Wan Hai 503. Maybe one small tip, Give those guys some… pic.twitter.com/SqSG7uyBiI

— Bart (@BartGonnissen) June 16, 2025

Nearly everything in the forward two-thirds of the ship in front of the deckhouse and bridge had been burnt, while only a few containers on the stern appeared shielded from the fire. The ship was on an even keel and riding higher in the water after dewatering efforts.

Since the vessel couldn’t enter any nearby port, it was decided to tow it about 1,800 nautical miles across the Arabian Sea to the Middle East. The UAE has deep-water ports that can act as a port of refuge and has the container-handling facilities to deal with the debris from the ship.

Reference: Wan Hai

Source: Maritime Shipping News