MSC ship sinks off the east coast of India

The Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Elsa 3 has sunk approximately 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi, with concerns growing over potential environmental fallout along Kerala’s coast.

The 28-year-old, 184 m long vessel, en route from Vizhinjam to the Port of Cochin, began listing severely early Saturday,. The ship, which carried 640 containers—including 13 with hazardous cargo—and over 450 metric tonnes of marine fuel, eventually capsized and sank on Sunday morning, about 14.6 nautical miles offshore.

The vessel issued a distress call at 08:00 UTC on Saturday after reporting a 26-degree list to starboard. Indian Navy and Coast Guard teams mounted a swift response, rescuing 21 crew members on Saturday and the remaining three early Sunday as conditions worsened.

“The weather was rough, and there must have been some internal issues within the vessel,” said Captain Alexander Ivanov, the MSC ship’s master. “We are grateful to the Indian Navy and Coast Guard for their efforts and flawless communication.”

The incident has triggered a high-level environmental response. Over 100 containers are believed to have fallen into the Arabian Sea, with at least 25 confirmed adrift and drifting at an estimated speed of 3 km/h toward coastal districts including Alappuzha, Kollam, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Some of these containers contain hazardous substances such as calcium carbide, prompting urgent coastal alerts. Several containers have already washed ashore, although the total number remains unclear.

Authorities have confirmed the leakage of marine fuels—367.1 tonnes of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) and 84.44 tonnes of diesel. While no major oil slick has been reported yet, the Indian Coast Guard has deployed two vessels and a Dornier aircraft to monitor the situation and spray chemical dispersants. The operation is being led under the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan.

The MSC Elsa 3, built in Germany in 1997 and operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), has a checkered maritime history. Formerly known as Jan Richter, the vessel has undergone nine name changes and was previously involved in a collision near Yemen in 2016 and a pirate attack near Nigeria in 2021.

Vessels in the region have been advised to avoid the last known position of the sunken ship and to maintain heightened vigilance for drifting containers and potential fuel slicks.