State declares shipwreck a disaster, announces aid for fisherfolk

Time of India

3 days ago

Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt on Thursday declared the recent shipwreck off Kochi as a state-specific disaster and announced immediate relief for affected fisherfolk. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said each impacted family in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts would receive Rs 1,000 and six kilograms of free rice as interim relief.
Liberian cargo vessel MSC ELSA 3 had capsized around 14.6 nautical miles off Thottappally on Sunday. The Coast Guard initially reported the vessel to the State Disaster Management Authority at 4pm on May 24 after it listed 38 nautical miles off Kochi. It was carrying 643 containers, including 13 with calcium carbide and 46 with hydrazine-based plastic components. Around 100 containers are estimated to have fallen into the sea, Vijayan said.
As many as 54 containers have washed ashore along the coasts of Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. Nurdles, small plastic pellets, have been released onto the beaches, particularly in Thiruvananthapuram, from some containers. Cleaning operations are underway, with police, SPC volunteers, Aapta Mitra teams and civil defence personnel deployed across affected zones. Drone surveys have been completed to identify contaminated areas, he said.
The govt has contacted MSC regarding the environmental impact, loss of livelihoods and tourism damages. The company has been urged to remove the ship from the Kerala coast. The Coast Guard, Navy, NDRF's CBRN team and fire and rescue services are actively involved in the response operations.
A sonar survey is being launched to accurately locate the sunken vessel and surrounding containers. Once mapped, the area will be marked with buoys, and restricted fishing zones may be revised accordingly.
Fishing is prohibited within a 20-nautical-mile radius of the sunken site.
Vijayan said 20 containers were handed over to Customs, and more were being moved to Kollam. Deputy nautical advisor Capt Aneesh Joseph has been appointed as the nodal officer to assist Kerala in filing insurance claims, leveraging his experience with other state govts. P&I (Protection & Indemnity) Insurance has set up a claims desk in Kochi.
Efforts to extract the ship's fuel are ongoing while authorities have clarified that calcium carbide containers likely sank to the seabed due to their weight, posing no immediate risk. Agencies are testing water and sand samples for contamination, and current assessments indicate no need to avoid seafood. The removal of the vessel and remaining containers is expected only after the monsoon season, the CM said.