MSC Elsa 3 Compensation Talks to Resume After Kerala Court Ruling
Seventeen months after the container ship MSC Elsa 3 sank in the Arabian Sea off Kerala, on India’s south-west coast, talks on compensation are set to restart. On 27 October a court lifted a stay on a committee of Kerala government officers and directed it to resume negotiations with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The talks will cover the cost of clean-up work, economic losses, environmental damage and harm to the fishing community. However, the committee cannot sign a final deal. Any proposal must be placed before the court, which is still hearing the state’s admiralty suit and other claims.
The ship went down about 14.6 nautical miles off the Kerala coast in May 2025. Containers and cargo, including plastic nurdles, washed ashore, and salvors had to stop oil leaks from the wreck. The cargo list also included calcium carbide and rubber chemicals.
The two sides remain far apart. Kerala has claimed about ₹9,531 crore, while MSC wants to limit its liability to around US$14.8 million and calls the state’s claim inflated. MSC has posted a bond of about US$133 million on the court’s orders.
MSC’s lawyers told the court that 437 tonnes of fuel and contaminants have already been removed, and warned that lifting the remaining waterlogged containers could cause further pollution. The Directorate General of Shipping has selected a surveyor to carry out an environmental assessment of the wreck at the owner’s cost. The next hearing is on 24 November.
The case is a reminder that accurate cargo declarations and quick, well-documented emergency response matter long after a casualty.
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