Coastal areas put on alert as a container ship carrying hazardous cargo capsizes

A Liberian-flagged container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, which had started tilting 38 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi on Saturday, has now completely capsized and is at risk of spilling oil. All crew members have been rescued. Among the containers the vessel was carrying were 13 that contained what the Coast Guard said was “hazardous cargo” and 12 that contained calcium carbide.

The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has issued an alert to the public to keep away from objects that may drift towards the coast. According to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the vessel capsized rapidly in the early hours of Sunday “due to flooding in one of the holds”. “All 24 crew members of Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 were rescued safely, 21 by Indian Coast Guard and 3 by Indian Navy ship, Sujata, after the vessel sank off Kochi this morning. The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 containing hazardous cargo and 12 with calcium carbide.

Additionally, the ship had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks,” the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard said it has activated comprehensive pollution response preparedness and is working in close coordination with the state administration to address all possible scenarios. A Defence spokesperson in Kochi said the Navy and the Coast Guard are fighting to contain the oil spill.

The Navy has informed that one km per hour is the approximate speed at which the containers will drift. The coastal regions of Ernakulam and Alappuzha have the highest possibility of getting the containers washed ashore. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) said it is closely monitoring the situation and remains in coordination with relevant authorities, providing vital ocean forecast information and advisory services to support ongoing search, rescue, and environmental response operations. Soon after the tilting of the cargo ship was reported, INCOIS activated its Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) to assist in locating containers or drifting objects, it said.

Additionally, ‘oil spill trajectory advisory’ simulations were run to forecast the potential spread and movement of any oil discharge, aiding mitigation and cleanup planning, it said. ‘Saksham’ engaged in oil spill response The defence spokesperson in Kochi said the Coast Guard ship, Saksham, is engaged in oil spill response. In addition, a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft is being launched in “PR configuration for mitigating oil spill”. In the context of an oil spill response, “PR configuration” typically refers to the use of the ‘co-polarisation ratio’ (PR) method to assess the oil-water mixture ratio in a spill.