Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the shipping company involved in the MSC Elsa 3 accident case, has informed the High Court that it is unable to deposit the compensation amount demanded by the Kerala government. The company submitted when the Admiralty suit filed by the state government seeking Rs 9,531 crore as compensation from the shipping company came up for hearing.
The company claimed that the only environmental issue was plastic waste washing ashore. The counsel for the company submitted that the suit at the instance of the state government is not maintainable as the vessel is not within the territorial waters.
The counsel also stated that there is no report of any oil pollution caused on account of the accident of the vessel MSC ELSA III.
The oil sheen spread within one nautical mile in the sea was completely removed by the ship owner and the claim, if at all maintainable, is highly exaggerated for want of supporting documents, it said.