Containers from the feeder ship MSC ELSA III, which capsized off the coast of Alappuzha, washed ashore along parts of the Kollam coast on Monday morning.
An alert has been issued for Kollam, warning that more containers may continue to drift ashore. So far, nine containers have been found along the Kollam coastline. All containers recovered so far have been found empty. The district administration has urged residents in vulnerable coastal areas to evacuate and shift to safer locations.
Meanwhile, the State Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, has convened an emergency meeting and issued a warning to the fishing community not to venture into fishing operations within 20 nautical miles of the capsized ship. The Government has entrusted two rapid response teams of the Pollution Control Board to deal with the possibility of any oil spillage from the capsized vessel reaching the coastline. Coast Guard, Indian Navy and the Port Authority have also been asked to make available necessary equipment to arrest any oil spillage in the sea.
The State Disaster Management Authority has strictly warned the public not to approach or touch any containers or floating objects. The ship carrying over 640 containers was en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi when it capsized off the Alappuzha coast on Saturday. Of the 640 containers on board, 73 were empty. There are reports that 13 containers carried hazardous chemicals, including 12 with calcium carbide. The vessel also had tanks containing 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil for power generation.
The Indian Coast Guard is closely monitoring the area to detect any possible oil spill with their advanced oil spill detection systems and there was no such spillage reported so far.
Shipping circles here said that nine containers have been washed ashore and the remaining would be still under water. There is a chance that the lashing may give way and more containers could come ashore as it depends on the water pressure and conditions of the lashing.
It is learnt that salvors have been appointed for the wreck, but the salvage operations are likely to start after the monsoon.
