MSC postpones evacuation of the sinking cargo ship’s hull and gasoline

After Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the shipowner, terminated its agreement with salvage company T&T Salvage, the effort to recover hundreds of tons of oil from the sunken cargo ship MSC Elsa 3 off the coast of Kerala has abruptly stopped. The sunken ship is located in the Arabian Sea at a depth of about 54 meters, 14.6 nautical miles off Thottappally Harbour in Alappuzha.

MSC asserted that T&T Salvage lacked the necessary experience to do fuel extraction and wreck recovery operations at that depth, according to India’s Mercantile Marine Department. This decision was made in spite of the fact that T&T had already made great strides in sealing leaks in the bunker fuel pipeline by bringing in skilled divers from South Africa and Singapore.

On June 10, MSC received a warning from the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) requesting that oil extraction start within 48 hours. With the help of the diving support vessel SEAMAC III, the diving team successfully shut and capped the ship’s fuel tanks by June 12.

The vessel later returned to Kochi to install a saturation diving system intended to assist in the next stage of underwater work. T&T Salvage had told authorities that key equipment had arrived in India and was awaiting customs clearance. They also reported that severe monsoon conditions had made it difficult to safely carry out fuel extraction operations.

Meanwhile, DG Shipping confirmed that while the wreck remains stable for now, they are monitoring it closely. A light rainbow-colored oil sheen was recently observed near the site, spreading approximately 1 kilometer in length and 50 meters wide.

Authorities believe this oil is not coming from the main fuel tanks, which were capped, but rather from residual oil and lubricants still trapped in enclosed areas like the engine room and machinery spaces. These small leaks are expected to continue intermittently until the vessel is fully flushed of all remaining oil.

Brand Marine Consultants, which is coordinating on behalf of the shipowner, has reported that a new contract is being finalised with SMIT Salvage. This company is expected to carry out the fuel removal using saturation diving techniques. DG Shipping is now waiting for the new salvage plan to be submitted for review and approval.

Onshore, cleanup teams have made significant progress in collecting plastic pellets, known as nurdles, that spilled from one of the ship’s containers. So far, about 190 tonnes of these nurdles have been recovered with help from local volunteers combing the beaches.

Proper storage arrangements have been made for the collected plastic waste. Divers have also been deployed to recover another container that remains underwater. The Indian government continues to conduct daily aerial surveillance of the wreck site, and a tugboat is stationed nearby to assist and monitor the situation.