DG Shipping inquiry report identifies causes for MSC Elsa 3 sinking

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The container vessel, MSC ELSA 3, before it sank off the Alappuzha coast. | Photo Credit: File photo

The Directorate General of Shipping concluded the preliminary investigation into the sinking of the container ship MSC Elsa-3, which occurred in May 2025 off the Alappuzha coast. The enquiry report, submitted in an affidavit before the Kerala High Court, sought to identify the reasons that caused the incident, which resulted in marine pollution off the coast of Alappuzha, while pollutants from the vessel floated to many points on the southern coast of India, causing significant coastal pollution.

The report went into detail about the progressive system deficiencies and failures that resulted in the ship’s sinking, such as the failure of the ballast water system with integrated heeling correction, failure of the safety management system due to inadequate maintenance protocols, delayed spare parts supply, defective machinery and insufficient crew training among other factors.

Critical system malfunction, compounded by structural failures and the incompetence of crew members, was identified as the causative factor in the report. It said that the ship had shown an inherent tilt to the right in previous voyages. During the journey from Vizhinjam to Kochi, the ship’s ballast water system failed first, and as a result, the crew could not stop the progressive flooding into the ballast tanks. The ship’s safety management system was reported to be deficient, especially regarding maintenance procedures and spare parts management. The ship had tilted to about 26 degrees, causing several container stacks to shift, further compromising the ship’s stability. By midnight on May 24, 2025, the containers had begun to fall overboard, creating additional hazards.

The investigation also revealed that the ship already had many defects in previous inspection reports, but were not sufficiently repaired or replaced. They had relied on temporary fixes, which created points of failure throughout the sys