MSC Elsa 3, the container ship carrying hazardous cargo, that sank off the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea on May 25, 2025.
The Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) has informed the Kerala High Court about the steps taken to explore the feasibility of undertaking an independent technical assessment of the MSC Elsa 3 wreck.
The Division Bench of Justices V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar noted that the Directorate had requested the Indian Navy to examine the possibility of using its specialised technical resources and expertise to assess the condition of the submerged containers and hazardous cargo through an underwater survey.
The Directorate further informed the court that it had identified two Indian firms — C Track Surveys and Fugro Survey India Pvt. Ltd. — with the technical capability to undertake the proposed multibeam and side scan surveys of the wreck and wreck site.
The court was considering a batch of public interest litigations (PILs) seeking the removal of the hazardous wreckage and compensation for fishermen affected by the sinking of MSC Elsa 3, a Liberia-flagged ship owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that had sunk off the coast of Alappuzha in 2025.
The Directorate also clarified that the responsibility and costs of the proposed surveys would have to be borne by MSC under the supervision of competent authorities and technical institutions. It sought the constitution of an inter-departmental committee for the purpose, consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mercantile Marine department, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, and the scientific and technical institutions concerned, such as the National Institute of Oceanography and National Institute of Ocean Technology.
Ummer Ottummal, a petitioner in one of the PILs, said that it was for the Central government to determine whether a wreck constituted a hazard, and that the aspects provided in the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, including features of the wreck, tidal range and depth in the wreck area, proximity to protected areas, shipping routes, offshore pipelines and tourist spots, meteorological conditions, and sensitive sea areas should also be considered by the authorities concerned while undertaking the survey.
Published – September 23, 2026 06:11 am IST
