The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said on Saturday that three of its vessels have been battling a fire on a merchant ship off Karwar, Karnataka, for the past 12 hours. The ships Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat were engaged in firefighting on the cargo ship, which is 6.5 nautical miles south of Karwar.

The vessel, which was carrying hazardous material, caught fire on Friday about 102 nautical miles southwest of Goa. On Saturday morning, the ICG issued an update on its X-handle, saying: “The vessels Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat have been battling the fire for over 12 hours and preventing it from spreading. As of 0700 hrs on 20th July, the vessel is 6.5 NM south of Karwar.” An ICG Dornier aircraft is conducting aerial assessments and an additional aircraft from Kochi has been positioned for search and rescue operations.

The emergency tugboat Water Lily also left Mumbai on July 19 and is expected to arrive on site on July 21.