Kerala shipwreck: NGT asks shipping firm MSC to clarify hazardous cargo in sunken Liberia-flagged vessel

NGT orders MSC to clarify hazardous cargo in sunken ship off Kochi coast, impacting marine environment and biodiversity.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stated that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that owned the Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC Elsa 3 that sank off the Kochi coast on May 25, 2025 was expected to clarify on the contents of the hazardous cargo in the 13 of the 640 containers.

An order dated May 27, 2025 issued by the Principal Bench of the tribunal in New Delhi pointed out that there were chances of serious impact to the marine and coastal environment affecting the biodiversity and water quality of the area as the sunken ship was carrying hazardous materials such as calcium carbide, oil and other undisclosed items.

The Bench, comprising Prakash Shrivastava, chairperson, and A. Senthil Vel, expert member, said that the incident violated the provisions under the Biodiversity Act, 2002; Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

The order was issued after the tribunal took suo motu cognisance of the report titled Containers from sunken ship likely to drift towards Alappuzha, Kollam Coasts in 48 hours: INCOIS published in The Hindu.

“On account of wave, wind and current actions of the waters, these pollutants can travel to other coastal parts of the country, including Lakshadweep islands, affecting them. The impact on the Lakshadweep island will be severe as the island coastal water has high bio-diversity with corals,” it said.

The Bench has asked the Member Secretaries of the Central Pollution Control Board, Lakshadweep Pollution Control Committee, Kerala State Pollution Control Board; Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Director General, Indian Coast Guard: and Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) to submit their responses on the shipwreck one week before the next hearing on July 30, 2025.

Besides the 13 containers with hazardous cargo, the vessel was carrying 12 containers having calcium carbide. It was also loaded with 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, according to official estimates.