Latest news with #MSCElsa-3
Time of India
3 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Plastic nurdle spill threatens Gulf of Mannar
Chennai: Plastic nurdles from the Liberia-flagged container ship that sank off the Kerala coast could spread to the ecologically sensitive Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve in less than two days. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A simulation using the search and rescue aid tool (SARAT) run by INCOIS, Hyderabad, shows that the nurdles are likely to drift further along the coast near Sattankulam by Saturday evening, before moving southward and offshore on Sunday. The tiny plastic pellets, used in plastic manufacturing, had already started washing ashore in Kanyakumari district on Wednesday. "In 36 to 48 hours, the nurdles are likely to move offshore because the currents in that area are directed away from the coast. However, due to wind patterns, a portion of the spill could drift into the Gulf of Mannar. But the majority is expected to reach Sri Lanka's west coast," said Balakrishnan Nair T M, Director, INCOIS. The container vessel MSC Elsa-3 sank on May 25, about 38 nautical miles (about 70 km) off the Kerala coast, between the ports of Vizhinjam and Kochi. The ship was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous materials such as calcium carbide, along with 84.44 tonnes of diesel and 367.1 tonnes of furnace oil. On Friday, chief minister M K Stalin chaired a meeting with officials on the safety measures to be taken to remove nurdles and other hazardous waste from the Elsa-3 shipwreck. According to a release from the state govt, Stalin inquired of environment and forest department secretary Supriya Sahu whether there was any oil spill from the ship accident and whether the marine organisms were affected. Sahu informed him that the pollution control board officials were inspecting if there was any oil spill and that they had contacted the ship authorities to determine whether there were any hazardous substances onboard the ship. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Veterinary and fisheries department secretary N Subbian told Stalin that he directed the fisheries officials to check whether the marine organisms were affected by the shipwreck and whether nurdles have been ingested by marine organisms. The fishermen were also advised to avoid fishing in the affected areas, Subbian told Stalin. Stalin directed the officials to monitor the movement of nurdles according to climatic conditions and to check the possible coastal areas where nurdles might get washed away. The district collectors of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, and Ramanathapuram were already briefed by the state disaster response authority about the steps to be taken to remove nurdles.
India Today
5 days ago
- General
- India Today
Elsa-3 capsized due to improper container loading, says maritime expert
The sinking of the Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Elsa-3 off the Kerala coast on May 25 has raised urgent questions about maritime safety and environmental Naveen Singhal, a Singapore-based Marine and Management Consultant and an empanelled specialist with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has attributed the disaster to improper container loading practices.'The vessel had some stability issues. It had begun listing to its starboard on Saturday. One of the things could be that maybe some of the container lashings. There's a very common practice where declared container loads are incorrect. What is stated in the cargo manifest may actually not be so—there may be actually much more than that. This incorrect weight declaration is an old story,' Captain Singhal He highlighted that shippers sometimes under-declare container weights to reduce freight costs, a practice that can have catastrophic consequences. 'If you have a top-heavy load, obviously it's going to create problems and lead to capsizing situations. This is a problem that's not just in Asian countries, it's an international problem. This problem is there in Europe and the US and it's not easy to handle this,' he said. He highlighted that shippers sometimes under-declare container weights. (Photo: PTI) Captain Singhal pointed out that while cranes (gantries) can weigh containers as they are loaded, the sheer speed of operations—often a container a minute—makes it difficult to verify every this needs to eventually be fully automated, wherein the incorrect calculations, incorrect weight declared in containers is captured right at the time when it's lifted in the gantry so that it sends an alarm and the ship staff knows, but that system doesn't exist today,' he ENVIRONMETAL FALLOUTAs for the environmental fallout, Captain Singhal said, 'The vessel has sunk in deep waters. It was carrying calcium carbide and calcium carbide has a reaction with water, but now that the vessel is sunk, so whatever reaction will be there will be deep, but it's likely that it generates some acetylene gas. So even if it does generate, it'll just bubble up over the surface.'He added, 'About six to eight containers have been washed ashore of which a few have landed on the coast and the 13 of them supposedly contain hazardous cargo. Now what is the nature of this hazardous cargo also has different grades. So what the nature of this hazardous cargo is still not known.' Regarding liability and response, Captain Singhal clarified, 'All of this will be handled by the Protection and Indemnity insurance (P&I insurance) provided by a P&I club. The hull and machinery is covered by the marine insurance company, cargo cover for cargo owners. The P&I club covers the open-ended risks which traditional insurers are loath to insure. This includes third-party damage to cargo—environmental damage caused by oil spills and pollution.'advertisement'The nodal agency to coordinate this entire operation will be the Director General of Shipping. The DG Shipping has offices all over the coast and Cochin is the one which will be monitoring closely the entire operations post the incident. It is in India's Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ. To that extent, the government of India has a role in monitoring and calling for an investigation to be conducted by the flag state, Liberia,' he incident underscores the urgent need for stricter oversight and technological upgrades in global shipping to prevent similar disasters in the future.(With inputs from Sandeep Unnithan)
