Kasaragod: A chemical barrel suspected to contain nitric acid washed up on a beach in Kumbala in Kasaragod on Sunday. Another partially burned barrel was also spotted in the Alappad region of Kollam, prompting fears that both may have originated from the cargo ship that caught fire in the Arabian Sea recently.

The Singapore-flagged vessel MV Wan Hai 503 caught fire after one of its containers exploded. The blaze, which began earlier this week, had reportedly been 40 per cent contained as of Thursday, according to the Directorate General of Shipping. Of the 22 crew members aboard, 18 have been rescued, while four remain unaccounted for. The incident took place at approximately 9.20 am IST on June 9, around 44 nautical miles off Azhikkal in the Kannur district and 130 nautical miles northwest of Kochi.

Authorities had earlier warned that some of the containers would drift toward the Kerala coast. The public has been advised not to touch any washed-up containers or barrels and to report sightings immediately to local officials.

On Saturday, A spokesperson of the Indian Coast Guard said that a total of 11 ICG ships are currently deployed for the firefighting operation.

The ICG on Friday said that it had achieved a "major milestone" in the ongoing operation to suppress fire onboard cargo vessel MV Wan Hai 503, as its towing commenced to keep the ship away from the coast.

On Saturday, the firefighting operations continued, with the ICG spokesperson saying that "continuous boundary cooling is in progress".

The Indian Navy on Saturday shared some details of what it described as a "daring aerial insertion" of a salvage team onboard the vessel a day ago.

"In a prompt response, the salvage team members were embarked onboard a Seaking helicopter at INS Garuda, Kochi. The Naval helicopter successfully inserted the team on the vessel amidst challenging weather and sea conditions and fire onboard," a Navy spokesperson said.