MSC Boxship Elsa 3 Sinks Off Kochi With Hazardous Cargo

The 1,728-teu MSC Elsa 3, a 28-year-old container ship owned by the MSC Group, sank on 25 May 2025 roughly 38 nautical miles (70 km) off the port city of Kochi, Kerala, prompting Indian authorities to monitor the coastline for possible environmental damage. The Liberian-flagged vessel was carrying 13 containers of hazardous cargo and 12 containers of calcium carbide among its 640 containers, along with 84 tonnes of diesel and 367 tonnes of furnace oil. The Indian coastguard released video and photographs showing the ship developing a 26-degree list before life rafts evacuated its 24 crew members. Twenty-one seafarers were taken off first, while the master, chief engineer and second engineer stayed aboard to assist a planned salvage operation. One of the holds flooded in the early hours of 25 May, causing the vessel to capsize rapidly; the remaining three officers abandoned ship and were rescued by the Indian naval patrol vessel Sujata. All 24 crew were brought to safety. The MSC Elsa 3 had been on a short voyage from Vizhinjam to Kochi. It is classed by Bureau Veritas and had switched protection and indemnity cover from the UK P&I Club to Steamship Mutual five days before sinking. The ship previously suffered serious hull and machinery damage in a 2016 collision and was last inspected in India about six months earlier. As of early 26 May, MSC had issued no statement, and authorities had not disclosed the cause of the distress. The incident followed the grounding of the 6,969-teu MSC Antonia in the Red Sea on 13 May, also under investigation.