Ship near Lakshadweep coast stranded over fire

A ship with over 322 passengers and 85 crew on Wednesday was stranded in the high seas 16 nautical miles from here after its engine caught fire. The vessel was sailing to Androth Island, a part of the Lakshadweep archipelago, official sources said. All the passengers and crew are safe and the ship is being towed to Androth by a Indian Coast Guard vessel which was in the vicinity, the sources said. The Coast Guard ship started towing the stranded vessel at 6.15 pm and it would reach shore by 11 pm, sources said.