Two containers of sunken ship 'MV ITT Puma' wash ashore on Odisha beach

Two shipping containers of a 'sunken' ship washed ashore on Satabhaya beach in Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary in Odisha's Kendrapara district on Monday.

According to sources, both the containers were lost at sea after a cargo vessel sank in the sea last week.

Labels on the containers confirmed that both were owned by logistics firm ITT Lines Private Limited, Kolkata, sources informed.

MV ITT Puma, a Mumbai-registered general cargo vessel, was en route to Port Blair from Kolkata when it sank on August 26 around 90 nautical miles south of Sagar Island in West Bengal.

Stormy weather caused the shipping containers to drift from the sunken ship to Satabhaya beach, the officials said.

Police and forest officials rushed to the beach and cordoned off the area and warned people to keep a safe distance from the containers.

The authorities were still investigating what items were there in the containers.

Most of the items in the containers were washed away as doors were opened due to the impact of waves, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika National Park, Sudrashan Gopinath Yadav, said.

"All the containers of the sunken ship contained household materials. The ship was sailing from Kolkata to Port Blair when the cargo vessel capsized," an official of ITT Lines Private Limited, Kolkata said.

The Indian Coast Guard rescued 11 crew members from the sunken ship on August 26 and brought them to Paradip the next day.

(With PTI Inputs)