Kochi, June 11 -- The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday winched five salvage team members and an aircrew diver onto the burning Singaporean-container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 to facilitate towing operations.

According to an official release from the Ministry of Defence, the vessel, which caught fire off the Kerala coast on June 9, continues to drift south-east within India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), approximately 42 nautical miles from Beypore, Kerala.

The vessel is carrying 1.2 lakh metric tons of fuel and hundreds of containers, including hazardous cargo, posing a serious risk to the marine environment and regional shipping routes.

"Intensive firefighting efforts by ICG have significantly reduced visible flames, with only smoke...