MSC ELSA 3

scrapped

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First hearing related to compensation claim

The Kerala High Court in India held its first hearing related to India’s nearly $1.1 billion compensation claim related to the sinking of the 'MSC Elsa 3'. The MSC’s lawyers called the claims “highly exaggerated,” while lawyers for the state government said the extent of the damages is “incalculable and continuing.” MSC was arguing that the state provided no evidence to support its claims, while it reiterated that there has been no significant oil leak from the vessel. It was highlighted that the oil sheen around the vessel was limited to within one nautical mile of the wreck. The state countered by saying that the recovery of plastic nurdles continues on a daily basis with reports that it has now reached 450 tonnes. The clean-up is ongoing and in part delayed by discussions over the best methods to be used. One local area is barring the use of seawater washing to separate the nurdles, although the authorities contend it has proven effective elsewhere on the coastline. The court papers also said that nearly 78,500 fishermen have been compensated for the loss of their livelihood. They contend the fish market has collapsed due to a lack of confidence. The fishermen received a financial award as well as a distribution of free rice. The state was successful at the court earlier in the week in having the containership 'MSC Akiteta II' detained pending the posting of a bond. The company argued for the release of the vessel while declining to post a bond. The state cites the ownership structure of the vessels in independent companies, contending that it is “highlighting a pattern of deliberate corporate structure to defeat potential claims.” The court ruled that the vessel, which has been detained in Vizhinjam port, has to remain in the port until a bond is posted. The court had previously briefly detained two other MSC vessels, the 'MSC Manasa F' and the 'MSC Polo II', during their local port calls until bonds were posted for cases involving private claims related to the loss of the vessel. The state was given two weeks to file additional supporting information for its claims, while MSC also asked for time to respond to the claims. The court scheduled a follow-up hearing about the detention and the claims for Aug 6. In the court papers, the state highlighted that the vessel was loaded with 643 containers when it went down, with reports that approximately 60 have washed ashore. Based on the manifests, they contend the wreck is releasing plastic pellets, oil, calcium carbonate, and other materials into the ocean. The Directorate General of Shipping, which is overseeing the salvage efforts, said in its recent report that there remains an intermittent oil sheen near the wreck, but divers in June capped the tank ports that had been seeping oil. A new salvage program with saturation diving is due to begin in August in an effort to pump the oil from the vessel, which lies at a depth of 167 feet.

Smit Salvage to continue operations at wreck after cancellation of contract

Salvage operations at the 'MSC Elsa 3' are due to be launched in August or when the weather conditions become favourable by Smit Salvage. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), has submitted an action plan in this regard. They have not yet arrived in Kochi, but have informed the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) on July 4, that they will arrive with all support facilities when the turbulence ends. Meanwhile, a team from the MSC shipping company was staying in Kochi. The captain and the crew members were also still staying in Kochi. The MMD principal officer, who is investigating the safety lapses behind the incident, has submitted an interim report to the DG Shipping and is waiting for the recovery of the voice data recorder to complete the probe. The MSC had decided to cancel the contract with the T&T Salvage as it lacked facilities for the operations and was seeking help from the Kochi port and the Coast Guard for the operations, which raised doubts that they were lacking the technical facility to conduct the salvage operations,

No significant polution caused so far according to MSC

The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) as owner of the 'MSC Elsa 3' has informed the Kerala high court that no significant pollution or environmental damage has been caused by the incident so far. The light oil sheen initially observed around the vessel's location was promptly contained, and it has since dispersed. All accessible vents and sounding pipes from which oil could potentially escape have been capped. Therefore, at present, there was no imminent threat of an oil spill, environmental damage, or any related consequences. These submissions were in response to petitions filed by the former MP T N Prathapan and others, seeking comprehensive compensation and rehabilitation for fishermen and other stakeholders affected by the incident. The affidavit filed by MSC further stated that of the 643 containers on board, 13 contained legally permitted hazardous cargo. It was believed that all 13 containers sank with the vessel. None of the 61 containers retrieved so far contained hazardous material. The other cargo on board included plastic products known as nurdles, of which more than 70 tonnes have been collected by special teams. MSC also informed that the removal of fuel from the vessel's bunker tanks requires saturation diving, a high-risk operation unfeasible under the current weather conditions.