The Kerala government has declared the wreckage of the Liberian-flagged cargo ship, MSC ELSA-3, which sank 14.6 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala on May 24, a State-specific disaster.
Tinku Biswal, Principal Secretary of the State Disaster Management Department, stated that the shipwreck posed a potentially serious threat to Kerala’s coast, both environmentally, socially, and economically.
Ms. Biswal stated in the government order that the maritime incident had raised serious environmental concerns, including the potential for oil spills and drifting of debris, including cargo containers, in the littoral waters abutting Kerala’s 640 km coastline.
The order permits the State Disaster Management Authority to mobilise resources, including personnel and significant sums of money from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), for expeditious relief efforts.
The container ship, which had set course for Kochi from Vizhinjam, foundered after encountering heavy weather 38 km southwest of its port of call.
A perilous combination of heavy seas, possible hull leakage, mechanical failure and perhaps unbalanced cargo reportedly caused the ship to list heavily before capsizing and sinking. The Coast Guard rescued the ship’s crew, comprising up to 21 individuals from various nationalities, including Russia and the Philippines.
The Customs department verified the ship’s cargo manifesto. It said the sunk vessel threw 640 containers, including 12 containing hazardous incendiary material, overboard when it flipped over.
Thus far, at least 54 containers have washed ashore on the beaches of Kollam (43), Thiruvananthapuram (9), and Alappuzha (2). Nevertheless, flotsam from damaged containers battered by the high seas off Kerala’s coast could wash up on the southern beaches of Kerala.
