MSC Elsa 3 declared wreck after successful removal of bunker oil: DG Shipping

Kochi, Oct 10 (PTI) Director General of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan here on Friday said that removal of bunker oil on board the Elsa-3 ship, which sank off the Kerala coast, has been completed successfully, and the vessel is officially declared a wreck.

Jagannathan was speaking to reporters after attending an event here.

“The Elsa 3 is now a wreck. The entire hot tapping operation required to remove the bunker oil has been successfully completed,” Jagannathan said.

He said that India has already acceded to the Wreck and Salvage Convention. “Now two specific aspects are being addressed — the compensation claim and the removal of the wreck, which we will take up with our utmost efforts." He said that the major risk of an oil spill has been completely eliminated. “The preliminary risk posed by over 300 metric tonnes of bunker oil on board has been nullified. The hot tapping was carried out under the supervision of the Principal Officer, Mercantile Marine Department (MMD), and it has been a successful salvage operation,” Jagannathan added.

The Liberian-flagged ship, MSC Elsa 3, sank on May 25, about 14.6 nautical miles from Thottappally in Alappuzha district, after tilting two days earlier. The vessel was carrying 643 containers, including some with hazardous materials such as calcium carbide and plastic pellets known as nurdles. PTI TBA TBA ROH