Initially 21 crew from the container ship were rescued by
the Indian Coast Guard on 24 May. The Master, Chief Engineer, and 2nd Engineer
stayed onboard the vessel and were rescued on Sunday morning by the Indian Navy
vessel Sujuta as the MSC Elsa 3 started to sink due to flooding one its holds.
There are fears of an oil spill 84.44 metric tonnes of
diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of fuel oil in the vessel’s fuel tanks although
as of Sunday morning the Indian Coast Guard said no oil spill had been
reported.
The MSC
Elsa 3 was reported to have 640 containers onboard 13 listed as containing
hazardous cargo and 12 with calcium carbide.
“The Indian Coast Guard has activated comprehensive
pollution response preparedness and working in close coordination with State
administration to address all possible scenarios.
Indian Coast Guard aircraft equipped with advanced oil spill
mapping technology are conducting aerial assessment of the affected area,” the
coast guard said on X on Sunday morning.
The 1997-built MSC Elsa 3 is owned and managed by the
world’s largest container shipping company Geneva-based MSC, according to
Equasis. The 28-year old vessel’s last Port State Control inspection was in
Mangalore on November 19, 2024 when 5 deficiencies were found.
MSC owns a large number of elderly container vessels and as
of November 2023 had 212 ships over 20 years old according to analysts Alphaliner.
