A 12-strong dive team was due to start the salvage operation of a 28-year-old MSC Group containership on Monday after the ship sank while carrying 13 containers of hazardous cargo,
A 12-strong dive team was due to start the salvage operation of a 28-year-old MSC Group containership on Monday after the ship sank while carrying 13 containers of hazardous cargo, said Indian officials.
The Liberian-flagged 1,728-teu MSC Elsa 3 (1997) went down on 25 May after developing a major list off the port city of Kochi, Kerala, caused by a ballasting system failure, according to the Indian directorate general of shipping.
More than 60 of the 640 containers on board the ship have washed ashore, and the majority of them have been recovered.
Nurdles, chemical-packed pellets the size of lentils that are the building blocks for plastic products, have also been discovered on the coastline.
Concerns have grown over pollution caused by nurdles because they are often mistaken for food by marine life and can break down into smaller microplastics.
“Shoreline clean-up operations for the plastic nurdles washed ashore … are progressing steadily,” said the directorate.
MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has backed mandatory rules to prevent plastic pellet solution and last year urged fellow liner operators to take voluntary action to tackle the problem.
It detailed the steps it was taking to support the International Maritime Organization’s strategy to eliminate plastic discharges from ships, including properly stowing and securing containers holding pellets under decks or in sheltered areas.
MSC Elsa 3 had 84 tonnes of diesel and 367 tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks, some of which leaked but did not reach the shoreline, according to officials.
Two offshore support vessels are removing a light oil sheen from the water surface, said the directorate in an update.
The diving team will first focus on capping any potential leaks from fuel oil tanks. The oil is due to be removed within the next month.
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