Navy helps fight fire at Visakhapatnam petrochemical facility

The Indian Navy's fire tenders and a Seaking helicopter have been assisting in fighting the blaze at a shore-based facility of East India Petroleum Limited(EIPL) in the southeastern Indian city of Visakhapatnam. The Navy said that the blaze has been brought under control and that dousing operations are in progress. No lives have been lost in the incident.

East India Petroleum Pvt. Ltd.(EIPL) is a private firm that operates a port-based facility for the receipt, storage, and handling of Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants, products, petrochemicals, and LPG. Their facility is located at the Visakhapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh.

The fire at the facility reportedly broke out on 7th September, afternoon, following a lightning strike on a methanol tanker. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, fire and foam tender trucks from nearby industries, fire department, the port, petrochemical firms, Indian Navy had responded promptly and undertook firefighting operations.

On Monday,September 8, the Indian Navy's Seaking helicopter was deployed with an underslung bucket to assist in dousing the blaze from up above. The helicopter undertook multiple sorties from the Naval air station INS Dega, dropping large quantities of water and foam over the seat of the fire, helping lower the temperature and suppressing the flames.