MSC Delays Fuel And Wreck Removal Of Sunken Cargo Ship Off Kerala Coast

The operation to extract hundreds of tonnes of oil from the sunken cargo ship MSC Elsa 3 off Kerala’s coast has come to a sudden halt after the shipowner, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), ended its contract with salvage firm T&T Salvage.

The sunken vessel is situated approximately 14.6 nautical miles off Thottappally Harbour in Alappuzha, lying at a depth of around 54 meters in the Arabian Sea.

According to India’s Mercantile Marine Department, MSC claimed that T&T Salvage lacked the required expertise to carry out fuel extraction and wreck recovery operations at that depth. This decision comes despite the fact that T&T had brought in expert divers from Singapore and South Africa who had already made significant progress in sealing leaks in the bunker fuel pipeline.

The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) had issued a notice to MSC on June 10, demanding that oil extraction begin within 48 hours. By June 12, the fuel tanks of the ship had been successfully sealed and capped by the diving team, with assistance from the diving support vessel SEAMAC III.

The vessel later returned to Kochi to install a saturation diving system intended to assist in the next stage of underwater work. T&T Salvage had told authorities that key equipment had arrived in India and was awaiting customs clearance. They also reported that severe monsoon conditions had made it difficult to safely carry out fuel extraction operations.

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The company stated that “hot tapping”, a method used to extract fuel from sealed tanks is highly technical and needs calm weather windows to be executed properly.

The sudden termination of T&T Salvage’s involvement has raised questions about the shipping firm’s intentions, especially since the team on site had already completed critical preparatory work. MSC says it is looking for a new salvage team, but the switch has raised worries about more delays in removing the fuel and wreck.

Meanwhile, DG Shipping confirmed that while the wreck remains stable for now, they are monitoring it closely. A light rainbow-colored oil sheen was recently observed near the site, spreading approximately 1 kilometer in length and 50 meters wide.

Authorities believe this oil is not coming from the main fuel tanks, which were capped, but rather from residual oil and lubricants still trapped in enclosed areas like the engine room and machinery spaces. These small leaks are expected to continue intermittently until the vessel is fully flushed of all remaining oil.

Brand Marine Consultants, which is coordinating on behalf of the shipowner, has reported that a new contract is being finalised with SMIT Salvage. This company is expected to carry out the fuel removal using saturation diving techniques. DG Shipping is now waiting for the new salvage plan to be submitted for review and approval.

Onshore, cleanup teams have made significant progress in collecting plastic pellets, known as nurdles, that spilled from one of the ship’s containers. So far, about 190 tonnes of these nurdles have been recovered with help from local volunteers combing the beaches.

Proper storage arrangements have been made for the collected plastic waste. Divers have also been deployed to recover another container that remains underwater.

The Indian government continues to conduct daily aerial surveillance of the wreck site, and a tugboat is stationed nearby to assist and monitor the situation.

Reference: newindianexpress

Source: Maritime Shipping News