Merchant vessel splits into two off Mumbai coast; crew rescued

A Singapore-bound merchant vessel from Jeddah split into two around 840 nautical miles off the coast in Mumbai on Monday causing oil spill even as all the crew members were rescued, Coast Guard officials said. 'Mol Comfort', the 316-m-long vessel was carrying 4,500 containers from Saudi Arabia, they said.

"The vessel hull broke into two off the Mumbai coast and the crew members were rescued from the ship in two life rafts and a life boat," a Coast Guard official said. The cause behind the incident was yet to be ascertained. It was also not known what the ship was transporting. The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue operation and all the 26 members of the crew--- 12 Russians and 14 Filipinos-- were rescued.

The officials said that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai diverted three ships-- MV Hanjin Bejing, MV Zim India and MV Yantian Express, which were travelling nearby, for the rescue operation. The rescued crew members are being sent to Colombo, they said.