A SEA OF TROUBLES

As two shipwrecks foul its coastal waters, Kerala finds itself staring at a deepening maritime emergency that threatens its fragile marine ecology and millions of livelihoods

- By Jeemon Jacob

In the span of just two weeks, Kerala's 600-kilometre shoreline—a ribbon of emerald backwaters and bustling fishing hamlets—has been rattled by two catastrophic maritime mishaps involving cargo ships, sending shock-waves through its coastal communities and unfurling environmental red flags.

The first blow came on May 25, when the Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3, a hulking vessel carrying 643 containers, succumbed to a suspected mechanical failure and sank 14.6 nautical miles off the Thottappally coast.

The ship, sailing between the Vizhinjam and Kochi ports, had 24 crew members, rescued well in time. But the real trouble lay beneath the waves: several containers of hazardous cargo, now submerged or bobbing ashore in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha.

Salvage crews are still racing to prevent the ship's fuel tanks from leaking oil, but the greater menace may be the plastic nurdles—tiny, insidious pellets used in plastic manufacturing—scattered across the water, a synthetic blizzard in the middle of fish-breeding season.

If Kerala’s coast was still catching its breath, the sea had other plans. On June 9, the Singapore-registered MV