NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 25
INS Sujata early on Sunday successfully rescued the remaining three crew members of a Liberian-flagged container ship that capsized in the Arabian Sea, approximately 38 nautical miles (about 70 km) off the coast of Kochi, Kerala, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said in a statement.
@IndiaCoastGuard #MRCC, #Mumbai received a Distress Alert regarding Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 developing 26° list approx 38 nautical miles southwest of #Kochi. Vessel departed #Vizhinjam Port on 23 May 25, bound for #Kochi with ETA 24 May 25. #ICG is actively… pic.twitter.com/U7SzOBsE9h
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 24, 2025
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 25, 2025
The ship, en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi, had been scheduled to arrive by Saturday evening. However, tragedy struck when the vessel began to take in water due to flooding in one of its holds.
The flooding caused the vessel to rapidly capsize in the early hours of May 25, prompting an emergency response.
“In the early hours of May 25, the vessel capsized rapidly, reportedly due to flooding in one of the holds. Three crew members remaining onboard the abandoned ship were rescued by INS Sujata, which joined operations last evening,” the ICG said.
According to the statement, all crew members are now safe. The ICG has launched an incident assessment and is issuing advisories to state authorities to manage any environmental impact or hazards.
The incident unfolded after the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) issued a warning on Saturday, alerting about a potential spill of hazardous material into the sea.
The ICG confirmed that the ship 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.
VLSFO, a fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 per cent by mass, is essential for compliance with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 2020 emissions regulations, aimed at reducing sulphur pollution in international waters.
Earlier on Saturday, 21 out of the 24 crew members were rescued after the ship began listing. The three remaining onboard — the Captain, Chief Engineer, and Second Engineer — had initially stayed behind but were later forced to abandon the sinking vessel.
The ship was nearing its destination at the Cochin Port when the emergency occurred.
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.
