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FIR against Liberian flagged ship that sank off Kerala coast
The cargo vessel sank 14.5 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi on the morning of May 25 while sailing to Kochi from the Vizhinjam International Seaport
Over two weeks when the Liberia-flagged cargo vessel MSC ELSA 3 sank off the coast of Kerala, the state police on Wednesday booked the owner of the ship, its master and the crew members for rash navigation and negligent conduct involving poisonous substances among other charges, officials said.
The cargo vessel sank 14.5 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi on the morning of May 25 while sailing to Kochi from the Vizhinjam International Seaport. As the ship sank, over 640 containers that were aboard went down along with it.
According to officials, at least 12 of those contained calcium carbide, a chemical that reacts dangerously with water as it releases acetylene gas, which is highly combustible. While efforts are currently on to extract the fuel oil and marine diesel from the sunken ship’s tank, the containers filled with hazardous substances have not yet been cleared from the sea yet. A mechanical failure in the ship’s ballast system was seen as one of the primary reasons that led to the vessel’s sinking.
On the basis of a complaint by C Shamji of Neerkunnam Matsya Gramam in Alappuzha, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Fort Kochi Coastal Police station. It named the owner of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the ship master and the crew as first, second and third accused respectively. HT has seen the report.
It stated that the neglect by the accused led to the mishap involving the ELSA 3 vessel. It further stated that there was environmental damage in the region in the form of plastic and other hazardous materials that were being discharged in the sea. It also said the accident caused huge losses to the fisherfolk and obstruction to the movement of ships.
The accused have been booked under sections 282, 285, 286, 287, 288 and and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (2023).
Following the police action, the Congress questioned why a case was filed after a delay of 17 days from when the ship sank and demanded an answer from the state government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Congress general secretary and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal claimed, in a Facebook post, that the state and central governments did nothing till now as the shipping company has business relations with the Adani Group.
He claimed that it was due to the persistent demands by the Congress that the police action was taken.
The FIR comes days after the state government faced intense criticism by the opposition and environmental activists over delay in initiating criminal charges against the shipping company and crew of the MSC ELSA 3 vessel. An official note prepared by the chief secretary A Jayathilak said that the government was intending to file compensation claims based on damages rather than immediately file a criminal case. The note said that MSC was a reputed firm which patronises the Vizhinjam port.
With PTI inputs
