The slow but dangerous drift of the burning ship, Singapore-flagged MV Wan Hai 503, to the Kochi coast seems to have been arrested for the moment. At around 6 pm on Friday, four salvage personnel who were dropped down on the flaming ship managed to connect the tow rope on both the bow and stern of the ship. 

The plan is to pull the ship away using tug ships Offshore Warrior, ETV Water Lily and Triton Liberty, which was requisitioned from the Navy on June 12. The ship that was some 44 nautical miles off the coast of Vadakara on June 9, the day it burst into flames, was found 38 nautical miles off the Kochi coast by June 12 night. The ship was drifting south southeast at 1.8 knots, nearly four kilometres per hour. At times, because of the swirling winds, the unmanned ship was also observed rotating aimlessly,

In between, frantic efforts were made to tow the ship. Twice the ropes snapped. Emergency Tug Vehicle (ETV) Water Lily did not have sufficient bollard pull (the towing force it can exert when stationary) to pull Wan Hai away. However, the tug boat that did have the necessary bollard pull named Offshore Warrior, and the one that was commissioned by the salvage company, did not have enough fuel. It was not filled with the necessary supply of the fire retardant foam, either.

"With the southwesterly gaining strength, things looked scary," said Sekhar Kuriakose, the member secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority. The IMD had predicted greater wind speeds in the next three days. The fear was that the ship would be pushed with greater speed towards the Kerala coast. 

The possibility of more explosions on the ship made its drift towards Kochi even more alarming. "Hydrocarbon vapours have been observed, indicating ongoing thermal activity around the fuel tanks. The vessel's drift trajectory at a steady pace of 1.5-2 knots continues to pose potential coastal risk," the situation report (SITREP) issued by the State Disaster Management Authority on June 12 night said.

Making matters worse was the inability of the firefighters to put out more fires after the initial success. "Indian Coast Guard has been working on mitigating the fire, dropping Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) using an IAF Mi-17 helicopter. However, heavy grey and black smoke continues to be emitted from the forward cargo holds, where heat zones remain active. Salvage teams onboard have confirmed persistent hotspots requiring continuous boundary cooling," the SITREP said.

The Director General of Shipping, in a sternly worded letter on June 11, had chastised T&T Salvage for keeping a salvage vessel (Offshore Warrior) without adequate fuel to carry out the salvage operation near the incident site. Its placement near the incident was more for effect than efficiency.

"While it is understood that the salvors may have positioned the vessel at the incident site to secure the salvage contract, the concealment of such information is entirely unacceptable," the DGS said in his letter. He also issued a stern warning to Wan Hai International, even threatening the company with criminal liability proceedings if there was further delay.

To support continued firefighting operations, further supplies of firefighting foam and DCP are being mobilised. Approximately 3000 litres of foam remain onsite, while an additional 5000 kg of DCP is being airlifted to the Beypore airbase, with another 2000 kg of DCP being procured as contingency. Separately, 20,000 litres of firefighting foam have been mobilised from Mumbai to replenish stock.