Oil spill scare off Kerala: Day after cargo ship capsized, 30 containers wash up ashore
A day after the Liberian-flagged cargo ship, MSC ELSA 3, capsized off the Kerala coast, 30 containers washed ashore on Monday. However, no oil spill has reached the shore as of Monday evening.
A defence spokesperson in Kochi said three Coast Guard vessels, Vikram, Saksham and Samarth, have been deployed in a pollution response configuration in the area where the ship capsized.
These vessels utilised infrared cameras to detect the oil spill area and utilised oil spill dispersant to contain the spread of oil, officials said. Besides, a Dornier aircraft equipped with specialised gear has been positioned in Kochi to undertake aerial assessments of the oil spill situation. A dedicated pollution control vessel, Samudra Prahari, is being mobilised from Mumbai to further augment oil spill response efforts.
In the coastal regions of Kerala's Alappuzha and Kollam districts, 30 of the containers that detached from the capsized ship washed ashore on Monday.
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority member secretary Sekhar Kuriakose said, 'These containers did not contain anything harmful. More containers may wash ashore in the coming days. We have warned the people not to go near the containers. Customs, as well as the representatives of the shipping firm, will be handling the containers.'
The Coast Guard had earlier said that the ship, which had 640 containers, was carrying 13 containers with 'hazardous cargo' and 12 with calcium carbide. It also said the ship had '84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks'.
Kuriakose said the state government has asked the Factories and Boilers Department to make ready two Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) each in southern and central Kerala districts, and one each in the northern districts. Besides, in the event of oil slick reaching the shore, the State Pollution Control Board was directed to make ready two RRTs each in the southern and central coastal districts and one each in the northern districts.
Meanwhile, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) will soon launch a field study on the fallout of the emerging scenario on marine ecosystems.
CMFRI director Dr Grinson George said the institute is closely monitoring the situation following reports of a possible oil spill in the Arabian Sea. The ecological and economic impact will depend on the scale of the leakage. Oil smothering could threaten sensitive marine species and disrupt fishing activities, particularly affecting artisanal fishers in coastal regions.
If the spill spreads, it may harm marine productivity, especially during the monsoon — a critical period for pelagic fish breeding and growth, he said, adding that this could have long-term consequences for fisheries. The monsoon season typically supports high marine productivity, and a strong fishing season was anticipated. The scale of the impact is dependent on the amount of leakage and how it can be contained, he said.
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