Though the Kerala government has decided to look for insurance compensation instead of registering a case against the Mediterranean Shipping Company, the owner of the ship MSC Elsa 3 that sank off the coast of Kerala, the Maharashtra government had sued the company when its cargo vessel MSC Chitra collided with another vessel, MV Khalijia, off the Mumbai coast, spilling huge amounts of oil and hazardous chemicals into the Arabian Sea in 2010, causing serious environmental damage.
K. Mohandas, who was the Shipping Secretary then, told The Hindu that soon after the incident the Maharashtra government registered a criminal case against the owner of the ship and the negotiation for insurance compensation progressed parallelly. “We cannot compare the two cases. The best practice is to register a case against the shipping company and pursue the case both legally and also through negotiations. The case can be withdrawn later if there is mutual agreement on the compensation after a detailed scientific analysis,” he said.
No legal compulsion
However, he said, there was no legal compulsion to register a case. If the State government was confident of settling the case through negotiation, it could also be explored, especially since the company had a global reputation, he said.
In the case of Maharashtra, the damage to the ecosystem was severe with huge oil spillage. Later, the owner of the ship sank the vessel along with the dangerous cargo onboard after around eight months of the accident as it was very difficult to retrieve the poisonous cargo from the ship. Even the shipbreakers refused to handle the cargo and shred the vessel. The owners sank the ship to the bottom of the sea around 350 nautical miles off the coast of Mumbai, as per reports.
Criticism
Experts have criticised the handling of the issue in Kerala, as the State government has decided to pursue negotiation instead of filing a case against the owner of the ship. The State was of the view that the MSC is a reputed company which patronises the Vizhinjam International Seaport and the company requires the goodwill of Kerala for its operations here.
The State, which released the list of dangerous cargo manifest a day after a cargo vessel caught fire off the coast of Kannur on Monday, was dragging its feet on releasing the cargo manifest of MSC Elsa 3.
Published – June 10, 2025 08:52 pm IST
