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HC orders arrest of vessel till firm pays ₹9,531 cr for ELSA 3
Justice Hakhim ordered that the vessel MSC Akiteta 2 be arrested at the Vizhinjam port until the shipping firm deposits ₹9,531 crore towards the compensation claims
The Kerala government on Monday filed an admiralty suit in the high court claiming compensation of ₹9,531 crore for damage to the marine environment and coastline, and economic losses to the fishing community in connection with the sinking of the MSC ELSA 3 vessel off the coast of Kochi on May 25.
In its suit, the state government claimed ₹8,626.12 crore as compensation towards damage to the environment, coastline and related interests of the state, ₹378.48 crore for measures taken to prevent or minimise the damage caused by the vessel and ₹526.51 crore for economic losses caused to the fishworkers. “The compensation has been computed following the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines,” it said.
The state government, represented by advocate general K Gopalakrishna Kurup, petitioned the bench headed by justice MA Abdul Hakhim to issue a warrant of arrest against the vessel MSC Akiteta 2, currently anchored at the Vizhinjam International Seaport near Thiruvananthapuram, until the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) furnishes the security for the maritime claim. The government argued that both ELSA 3 and Akiteta 2 are registered in the names of two sister companies of MSC and that both are managed, operated, and owned by the same firm.
Justice Hakhim, admitting the suit filed by the government and conferring with its arguments, ordered that the vessel MSC Akiteta 2 be arrested at the Vizhinjam port until the shipping firm deposits ₹9,531 crore towards the compensation claims.
“I prima facie find that averments in the plaint and in the affidavit in support of this application and the documents produced by the applicant would make out a maritime claim against the respondents 1 and 2 under section 4 (1) of the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and settlement of maritime claims) 2017 to invoke the admiralty jurisdiction of this court conferred under section 5 for the arrest and detention of the 1st respondent vessel in order to obtain security for the plaint claim,” the judge said.
“I am satisfied that an arguable maritime claim is made out by the applicant, warranting a conditional order of arrest of the 1st respondent vessel till the 1st respondent furnishes security for the plaint claim,” the order read.
The MSC ELSA 3 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. However, all the 24 foreign crew members were rescued in joint operations by the Navy and the Coast Guard.
The sinking of the cargo vessel had rung alarm bells on Kerala’s coast as officials pointed to the presence of calcium carbide, a chemical that reacts dangerously with water to produce acetylene gas, in at least 12 of the containers onboard. Additionally, tonnes of plastic nurdles, a form of microplastic used in the manufacture of a wide variety of plastic products and inside the containers that drifted into the sea, were washed up on the state’s coast, particularly on the beaches in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts. Environmentalists have warned that the plastic nurdles, likely to be consumed by fish and other aquatic animals, would cause major harm to the marine ecosystem and ultimately enter the human food-chain. The leaking of the ship’s fuel in the initial weeks following the sinking was also observed by the government and activists as a form of pollution to the ecosystem.
While the state was accused initially of not registering a criminal case against MSC citing the shipping company’s proximity to the Vizhinjam port, in which the State has a stake, an FIR was registered by the Fort Kochi Coastal police on June 11 against the ship’s owner, master and crew members for rash navigation and negligent conduct involving poisonous substances.
