Kerala HC directs panel to resume negotiations with MSC Elsa 3 owners to assess compensation, other costs

KOCHI The Kerala High Court has directed a committee led by the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance department, to resume negotiations with Mediterranean Shipping Company to assess the compensation for the environmental damage caused by the sinking of Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3, a container ship that sank off the Alappuzha coast in May 2025. The sinking of the ship had caused extensive marine and coastal pollution on the Keralam and Tamil Nadu shores.

The Keralam government had formed a committee to assess the extent of the environmental damage and negotiate the compensation for the remedial works and other economic loss to the State, its ecology, and to the fishing community. A Division Bench of Justices V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar was considering a batch of public interest litigations seeking the removal of the hazardous wreckage of the sunken vessel and the compensation to fishers affected by the sinking of the ship.

The court stated that the committee was intended to facilitate a coordinated response to the environmental damage and to enable the State to pursue the necessary assessment and restoration measures without undue delay. The court was earlier apprised that a multibeam survey to assess the wreckage could be conducted, and an agency had been finalised to execute the survey. The shipping company had informed the court that the scope of work for the survey should be jointly formulated by the stakeholders and furnished to the agency.

The court was informed that the Special Secretary, Environment department, would furnish the scope of work on behalf of the State. The court directed the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to add their suggestions to the scope of work being consolidated by DG Shipping within one week.