MSC ELSA 3

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MSC in talks with Smit Salvage

MSC has started talks with the Boskalis subsidiary Smit Salvage about the salvage of the 'MSC Elsa 3', after the shipping company terminated the contract with the the American T&T Salvage after delays in removing oil from the wreck. The new salvage contract was allegedly nearing completion. According to MSC, the company T&T Salvage did not have the necessary expertise, although great progress had already been made in sealing leaks in the fuel lines by divers. The removal of the more than 450 tons of marine fuel had been delayed because the installation for saturation diving was still at the customs.

Contract with T&T Salvage terminated by Mediterranean Shipping Company

The contract with T&T Salvage to extract oil from the bunker tanks of the 'MSC Elsa 3' around 14.6 nautical miles off Thottappally harbour in Alappuzha, has been terminated by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) as they lacked expertise in removing the oil from a ship which is at a depth of 54 metres. The move of the shipping firm has raised doubts about their intention as T&T had brought expert divers from Singapore and South Africa for oil extraction and had successfully sealed the leaks in the oil bunker pipeline. The Director General of Shipping had issued a notice to the shipping firm on June 10 setting a 48-hour deadline for oil extraction. The diving team had completed capping and plugging of the fuel oil tanks of the sunken vessel Elsa 3 aided by diving support vessel 'Seamac III' on June 12. The diving support vessel had returned to Kochi for installation of saturation diving system to aid the diving operations. The shipment had arrived and was under customs clearance.The ship owner had sought extension of time to start oil extraction citing adverse weather conditions. They had informed the DG Shipping that it was difficult to extract oil from the vessel due to monsoon turbulence. The hot tapping of oil from the bunker was a complex operation and the limited weather windows made it a challenging task. The MSC was now in search of a new salvage agency and have promised to start the operations once the weather improves.

Monsoon conditions delay oil recovery

The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) on June 18 said that due to the prevailing peak monsoon conditions and associated operational risks, it will take more time to extract oil from the 'MSC Elsa 3'. The weather conditions provided only a narrow and fragmented working window, which is unsuitable for stable and safety. A further delay would provide a more reliable window to safely conduct hot tapping and oil recovery. The 'Nand Saarthi', from where saturation diving operations for oil extraction were to be conducted, remains at Kochi port due to the prevailing adverse sea conditions. Upon improvement in weather, it will sail to the wreck site. Oil recovery equipment onboard the 'Nand Saarthi' is to be transferred to Canara Megh for the next phase. All accessories and gases remain available and are being held for deployment once the new contractor takes over, The 'Seamac III' has been demobilised and was proceeding to Mumbai as all the leaks have been plugged. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has conducted aerial sorties using Dornier aircraft equipped with Pollution Surveillance Systems (PSS) to look for any oil slicks, No oil slick has been observed approximately 60 nautical miles from the wreck site. Additional sorties are planned to continue monitoring the situation. Satellite imagery from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) was awaited to confirm whether there were any shoreline and offshore oil traces. Regarding washed up plastic nurdles, approximately 65-75 tons were now stored shore-side, awaiting a final disposal decision. the Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC) has continued container recovery activities at Kollam, focusing on submerged containers using divers. Beach cleanup operations continued across Thiruvananthapuram with approximately 160 volunteers deployed, ,The intermittent rains have slowed down the clean-up work on some days,