Kochi (Kerala) [India], May 25 (ANI): The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Navy on Sunday stated that they have escalated pollution response activities following the successful rescue of all 24 crew members from the Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3, which sank off Kochi this morning.
All 24 crew members on board were rescued, 21 by ICG last night and three by the Indian Navy’s INS Sujata today. The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide. It was also loaded with 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, according to a release.
Given the sensitive marine ecosystem along the Kerala’s coast, ICG has activated full pollution response preparedness. ICG aircraft equipped with advanced oil spill detection systems are conducting aerial surveillance, and ICG ship Saksham, carrying pollution response equipment, remains deployed at the site. So far, no oil spill has been reported.
According to the Indian Navy PRO Athul Pillai, the two ICG ships, Saksham and Samarth, are now focused on mitigating potential ecological damage, with a Dornier aircraft assisting in surveillance, as the vessel remains a concern for maritime pollution.
“Today morning, the Indian Navy Ship Sujata rescued three of the crew, the master, the chief engineer and the assistant engineer. They have been on board the ship since yesterday. So today it was felt that, if they stayed put more, it was a danger for them. So they had to abandon the ship and the crew was rescued by the crew of INS Sujata. The rest of the crew were rescued by the Coast Guard ship and a merchant ship. The 21 crew have been brought to Kochi by a Coast Guard Ship. Two of the Coast Guard ships are involved in the pollution response activities. The ship has been changed into a pollution response configuration. One of the ships, Saksham, is already in the area. The other ship, Samarth, will proceed to the area to augment the pollution response activities. The Indian Coast Guard Dornier is also on task for the pollution response activities,” Pillai stated.
Captain of INS Sujata, Arjun Shekhar, also detailed the account of the rescue operation, noting the high wind speed, debris and containers in the water made it very difficult to approach the ship at night. 
“On May 24, at 1215 hours, we received a distress call from motor vessel MSC Elsa 3… The Indian Navy deployed two ships, INS Satpura and INS Sujata. INS Sujata arrived at 1900 hours and Satpura arrived at 2000 hours. We faced adverse conditions. We had wind speeds gusting up to 40 knots, debris and containers in the water, which made approaching the ship at night very difficult. In the evening, 21 crew were rescued by ICGS Arnvesh. This morning, the remaining three crew were rescued… We were prepared for every contingency and we are in the business of saving lives, and we have delivered and achieved that today,” Shekhar stated.
By late Saturday night, 21 of the 24 crew, including nationals from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and the Philippines, had been rescued. Three senior crew members remained onboard to assist with salvage arrangements. However, the vessel’s condition deteriorated overnight and it capsized on May 25 morning The three crew members were forced to abandon the ship and were rescued by INS Sujata. (ANI)
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