Ship sinks; leaking oil, cargo hazard sparks alert in Kerala

A cargo vessel carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous materials, sank off the Kerala coast on Sunday, triggering fears of environmental damage along the coastline that prompted the state government to issue an alert, officials said, adding that all 24 members of the ship's crew have been rescued.

- Vishnu Varma and Yogesh Naik

KOCHI/MUMBAI:

The Liberian-flagged MSC ELSA 3 sank 14 nautical miles off the state's coast in the Arabian Sea around 7.50am on Sunday, almost a day after the ship developed a 26-degree starboard list — marine term for tilt. The crew of the ship was rescued in a joint operation conducted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Navy, the ministry of defence said in a statement.

The Elsa 3 is operated by MSC, one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, according to a listing on the company's website. Amid concerns of oil from the ship's fuel tanks affecting the sensitive marine ecosystem along Kerala's coast, the ICG activated full pollution response preparedness, the ministry said. "ICG aircraft equipped with advanced oil spill detection systems are conducting aerial surveillance and ICG ship Saksham carrying pollution response equipment remains deployed at the site," it added.

According to an ICG statement, the ship had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks along with the containers of hazardous cargo and calcium carbide — a chemical that reacts dangerously with seawater to release highly flammable acetylene gas.