Indian Coast Guard Saves Listing Chemical Tanker With 23 Crew Off Odisha Coast
Belize-flagged MT Seagull 9 lost engine power and began flooding in the Bay of Bengal before a boarding team stopped the leak
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| Image Source: PIB India |
The Belize-flagged MT Seagull 9 sent a distress call at about 7.30am on Sunday after its main engine failed and a ballast tank flooded rapidly, tilting the vessel dangerously. Ballast tanks hold seawater to keep a ship upright and trimmed; uncontrolled flooding in one can cause a list a crew has no power to correct.
The patrol vessel ICGS Vishwast was sent to the position, and a specialist damage-control team boarded the unstable ship. The team deployed submersible pumps to remove water, stopped the leak, sealed off two damaged seawater pipelines and contained a third that had fractured, removing the risk of capsizing.
The Coast Guard diverted a pollution control vessel and an offshore patrol vessel to the scene, and flew Dornier surveillance aircraft from Bhubaneswar to monitor the water from the air. A light palm-oil sheen was seen near the ship on Sunday. Follow-up flights on Monday confirmed it had dispersed completely, the Coast Guard said, adding that pollution-response measures remain in place.
Averting a major disaster at sea!
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) September 28, 2026
Following a critical distress call from MT Seagull 9 off #Paradip, #ICGS Vishwast launched a swift & decisive operation to rescue the unstable chemical tanker carrying 9,000 MT palm oil & 23 crew members.
Braving high-risk conditions, the… pic.twitter.com/3F1h4d1Yid
Once the vessel was stable, a Paradip Port Authority tug, Dolphin, took it under tow towards the anchorage off the port. ICGS Vishwast and the other vessels remain on station.
Paradip is one of India's major ports on the Bay of Bengal, handling bulk cargo including crude oil and edible oils. The stretch of coast sees heavy tanker traffic, and the Bay is prone to sudden weather.