Container vessel carrying ‘hazardous cargo’ sinks off Kerala coast, alert issued in state

A Liberian-flagged container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, carrying “hazardous cargo” sank off the coast of Kerala’s Kochi on Sunday after it began gradually tilting a day earlier, the Indian Coast Guard said.

All 24 crew members on board the vessel were rescued, it added.

“The vessel, en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi, was carrying 640 containers (including 13 hazardous scargo and 12 calcium carbide containers), along with 84.44 MT diesel and 367.1 MT furnace oil,” the Ministry of Defence said. The Coast Guard was assessing the situation, it added.

“Presently, no oil spill has been reported,” the ministry said, adding that the reason for the incident was yet to be ascertained.

However, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority on Saturday issued an alert to the public to keep away from objects that may drift towards the coast, The Indian Express reported.

On Saturday, the Indian Coast Guard said that it had received a distress alert about the vessel. In a post on X, it said that the vessel had departed from Vizhinjam port on Friday and was scheduled to reach Kochi the next day.

The vessel capsized rapidly in the early hours of Sunday “reportedly due to flooding in one of the holds”, the Coast Guard said.

“ICG [Indian Coast Guard] has activated comprehensive pollution response preparedness and working in close coordination with state administration...

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