Kochi: The Liberian container ship ‘MSC ELSA 3’ has been confirmed to have sunk off the Kochi coast earlier in the day, ‘due to flooding’, media reports said.
The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide. It had 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil.
All 24 foreign crew members including the Russian captain on board were rescued by Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy’s INS Sujata.
ICG has activated full pollution response preparedness while ICG aircraft equipped with advanced oil-spill detection systems are conducting aerial surveillance.
Pollution-response equipment mounted ICG ship Saksham, which is deployed at the site, has not reported any oil spill.
The ship developed a 26-degree tilt during its voyage from Vizhinjam to Kochi when it lost stability at approximately 38 nautical miles south-west of Kochi.
The ICG swung into action following a distress call in Kochi and spotted two liferafts with survivors.
Twentyone out of the 24 crew from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and the Philippines, were rescued, while three senior crew members remained onboard for technical reasons.
The situation worsened overnight and the vessel capsized on Sunday morning.
The remaining three crew members were rescued by INS Sujata.
Falling off of a few containers carrying potentially hazardous cargo led the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) issuing an extraordinary alert warning the public against touching the cargo washing up along the Kerala shore.
Ship sinks off Kochi coast
