Kollam: Eight containers from the ship MSC Elsa 3, which sank off the Kochi coast, washed ashore near the Kollam coast by Monday morning.
The container was seen crashing into the seawall. Initial assessment suggests it is empty. However, as it was found near a residential area, the district administration has advised people to vacate their houses and move to safer locations.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, estimates an 80 per cent probability that containers that have fallen into the sea from a ship will wash ashore in the coastal regions of Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts. Ship debris may wash ashore in this area within the next 96 hours.
The MSC Elsa 3, a ship carrying over 640 containers, capsized off Kochi harbour Saturday enroute from Vizhinjam to Kochi. It completely sank on Sunday at 7:50 am. The ship had tilted 26 degrees and started sinking on Saturday afternoon.
The MSC Elsa 3 cargo ship, which sunk after an accident, 70 km off Kochi. (Visual from INS SUJATA/Indian Navy)
The ship sank just 14.6 nautical miles (27 km) from the Thottappally spillway in Alappuzha, raising major environmental concerns on the state’s southern coast. The possible leak from the 25 containers of hazardous chemicals, including calcium carbide onboard, and the fuel leak pose a significant threat to the sea and the coastline.
Crew rescued
The Coast Guard and Navy jointly rescued 24 crew members and brought them to Kochi. The captain and two engineers, who stayed aboard the ship overnight hoping to right it with the help of other ships and naval units, were rescued on Sunday morning. A Georgian engineer has been admitted to a hospital in Kochi. Though the exact cause hasn’t been determined, the crew suggested that bad weather and technical malfunctions might have caused the ship to capsize.
The ship contained 640 containers, including 73 empty ones. Of these, 13 contained hazardous chemicals, and 12 contained calcium carbide. The tanks also held 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil for power generation. Environmentalists warn that the possible oil spillage and chemical contamination could result in huge devastation on the coast.
An oil slick approximately 3.7 km wide and long has spread across the sea. The Coast Guard is intensifying efforts to locate and remove the oil slick using infrared cameras. An aircraft is also spraying powder over the affected area to neutralise the oil. Authorities have warned people not to approach the containers or touch floating objects.
The government has issued a directive prohibiting fishing within a 20-nautical-mile radius (approximately 37 km) of where the ship sank.