Kochi: The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) on Friday confirmed that all identified fuel oil tanks of the Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC Elsa 3, which sank off the Kerala coast last month, have been successfully plugged, with no signs of oil leakage detected near the wreck site.
In a situation report, the DGS said containment measures have temporarily stabilized the situation. However, complete risk mitigation can only be achieved once saturation diving operations begin to extract the remaining trapped oil from the vessel.
“Delays in mobilization of saturation diving equipment have already shifted the initial operational timelines,” the report noted, adding that salvors estimate the hot tapping and oil extraction process will take approximately 24 days, subject to favorable weather conditions.
The DGS has instructed salvors to submit two revised schedules, one based on optimistic weather forecasts and the other factoring in likely monsoon-related delays.
Efforts to retrieve the vessel’s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) have so far been unsuccessful. Diving operations for its recovery will continue. The dive support vessel SEAMAC III has returned to Kochi for conversion to support saturation diving, a process expected to take three days.
Onshore, clean-up operations continue across affected coastal districts. The Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC) reported the delivery of 58 recovered containers to the port, along with the recovery of a small container piece and the securing of hydraulic oil barrels.
Nurdle recovery remains ongoing but slow, as wave action continues to deposit more of the plastic pellets onto the shore. A beach-cleaning vacuum unit from Bengaluru is en route for field testing. The DGS noted that the volume of nurdles recovered so far is “significant,” necessitating large-scale manpower. The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) has recommended boosting volunteer involvement to speed up shoreline recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, MERC teams continue daily site-wise clean-up operations in affected districts.
Authorities on Thursday gave the ship’s owners and salvors a 48-hour deadline to commence and complete oil extraction, warning of civil and criminal consequences for failure to act.
The MSC Elsa 3 sank around 14.6 nautical miles off the coast of Thottappally in Kerala’s Alappuzha district between 24 and 25 May. The vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 containing hazardous materials and 12 with calcium carbide, along with 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil.
On 11 June, Kerala Police registered a case of rash navigation against the ship’s owner, master, and crew. The FIR, filed by Fort Kochi Coastal Police, accuses them of negligently handling a vessel carrying flammable and explosive cargo, resulting in the sinking.