Kerala govt not for legal action in ship sinking incident

Thiruvananthapuram: Despite the serious environmental concerns posed by the sinking of the ship MSC ELSA-3 with flammable cargo and oil in the sea off the Kerala coast on May 24 and 25, the state government is of the view that no criminal case need to be filed against the shipping company -- Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) -- to ensure a cordial relationship with the major shipping firm that is operating at the recently commissioned Vizhinjam international seaport run by the Adani ports.

According to a note of the Kerala government, the general consensus was that a criminal case need not be filed immediately and that the entire focus should be on collecting evidence of damage and raising claims. The note also said that "MSC is a reputed company which patronises the Vizhinjam international seaport and the company requires the goodwill of Kerala for their operations here."

It is also in their interest to cooperate with Kerala and settle the claims through the insurance agency, it said.

The note was prepared by Kerala Chief Secretary A Jayathilak on the basis of a meeting of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with director general of shipping Shyam Jagannathan and other senior officials on May 29.

Kerala ports minister V N Vasavan told reporters that it was for the ministry of shipping to take legal action as the incident took place in the deep sea.

Already, there were allegations over the items in the containers in the ship. Plastic pellets from the containers were washed ashore mostly in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram, raising serious environmental threats.

Following Kerala High Court's intervention, the state government released the details. While 13 containers contained calcium carbide, the other contained items like cashew, coconut, wooden logs, plastic polymers, cotton and tea.