A day after declaring the shipwreck of MSC ELSA 3 in the Arabian Sea a state-specific disaster, the state government has constituted a high-level committee to engage with the shipping company M/s MSC for compensation and remediation efforts.
The wreckage, located 14.6 nautical miles off the Kerala coast, has raised concerns over serious environmental, social, and economic impacts.
On Friday, the state government outlined the immediate need to consult and negotiate with M/s MSC to create a financial package to assist in damage assessment, disaster management, environmental remediation, and compensation.
The committee will be chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department, and will include the Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Principal Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, Secretary, Environment Department and the Member Secretary, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), who will also serve as Convenor and single nodal point of contact with the shipping company.
The committee will also act as the Oversight Committee for the task force formed under an earlier order to carry out both rapid and long-term assessments of the damage and propose appropriate remediation measures.
Additionally, a special meeting of the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) was convened on Friday to assess and coordinate pollution response strategies. The meeting was chaired by Director General of the Indian Coast Guard, Paramesh Sivamani AVSM, PTM, TM, and brought together representatives from multiple government agencies.
Officials discussed the current status of response measures and emphasised the need for a unified and coordinated approach to mitigate the environmental risks posed by the wreckage. The discussions focused on protecting the ecologically sensitive coastal zones of Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu, as well as addressing the livelihood concerns of local fishing communities potentially affected by the incident.