The Kerala government filed an admiralty suit in the High Court seeking a Rs 9,531 crore ($1.1 billion) compensation for environmental and economic damages caused by the sinking of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Elsa 3, a cargo vessel, off the Kerala coast on May 25. (An admiralty or maritime suit deals with cases in court related to ships and shipping.) The Kerala High Court ordered the arrest of MSC MV Akiteta II, currently docked at Vizhinjam Port, until the shipping firm deposits Rs 9,531 crore with the court. The court will next hear the matter on July 10.
The Liberian-flagged ship with 643 containers, some carrying hazardous chemicals, flammable liquids, self-igniting substances and chemicals that react on contact with water, capsized on May 25 about 20 nautical miles off the Alappuzha coast.
The government’s move, which followed its earlier decision not to file cases against the ship, surprised many. When the MSC ship sank, the authorities were reluctant to file a case because of the firm’s alleged ‘patronisation’ of the Vizhinjam International Seaport. The decision not to file a case was reportedly taken after a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and top officials of the Directorate General of Shipping.
But two weeks after a public outcry and court intervention, the government decided to file an FIR against the shipping company.
Despite the public pressure on the government, many experts feel the FIR is very “weak” and “compromising”.
V J Mathew, a maritime law expert, tells Outlook that the government’s compensation demand will not stand scrutiny. “MSC is not the registered owner of the vessel. And the arrested ship, MSC MV Akiteta II, now docked at Vizhinjam, is not technically a ‘sister vessel’ of the sunken ship—because these two ships are registered with different companies,” he says. ‘Sister ships’ must be registered with the same company. Moreover, Mathew said that the pollution control board, in an earlier affidavit, had ruled out pollution after the shipwreck. Hence, seeking compensation for ecological damage may not succeed when the court considers the matter in detail.
An officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government was forced to file the case and to seek compensation just to assuage public anger. According to him, the government may try to buy time and then attempt to reach an “amicable” out-of-court settlement.
The Geneva-headquartered MSC has business relations with the Indian conglomerate Adani Corporation, which, in turn, runs the recently inaugurated Vizhinjam International Port. Opposition parties had earlier alleged that the government is taking a soft approach towards the shipping company because of its business ties with the Indian corporation.
“The government is trying to protect the shipping company, and there are political reasons for it,” Charles George, Kerala Malsyathozhilali Aikya Vedi (TUCI) told Outlook. “The Kerala government has not carried out any serious ecological impact study after the ship sank. Fishermen are suffering huge losses due to damage caused to fishing nets by the ship’s debris. The wreckage is tearing fishing nets apart, resulting in huge financial losses to boat owners.”
According to various fishermen associations, more than twenty fishing boats ventured into the sea from the Kochi and Alappuzha coasts last week and suffered damage to their fishing nets from the floating containers and other ship parts the boats encountered.
Financial losses apart, the ecological damage to marine life due to the (alleged) spillage of hazardous chemicals from the containers, is immense.
Mohammad Irshad, Assistant Professor at the Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management at Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai, told Outlook that the ecological impact and financial loss to the fishermen community should be assessed. Not doing so may help shipping companies, as there are chances of the disaster being classified as unintentional, which will help them to avoid paying substantial compensation. According to him, while evaluating the damage caused by a shipwreck, the long-term ecological consequences and the social and financial losses to the fishing community should also be factored. He argues that as the blue economy expands, a comprehensive mechanism should be developed to deal with ecological and employment disruptions caused by marine disasters.
According to a recent study by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), extreme weather conditions and climatic changes are taking a heavy toll on fishermen’s lives and livelihood. Loss of fishing days and reduced catch has added to their problems. Recent shipwrecks have rubbed salt on their wounds.
Kerala has one of the most densely populated coastal areas in the country. The measures the government takes to ameliorate the woes of the coastal population will have a tremendous impact on Kerala’s social and economic life. Those familiar with coastal life say that the government should at least ensure accountability from shipping companies. How seriously the Kerala government takes these issue will soon be evident, when the cases is argued before the High Court.
