Greenpeace India welcomes the Director General of Shipping’s ultimatum sent to the MSC company on June 11th, demanding the urgent extraction of oil from the container ship MSC ELSA 3, which sank 14.6 nautical miles offshore of Kerala’s coastline on 25th May.
Since then, and in spite of cloudy weather, Greenpeace has been able to collect several images of an oil slick trail from the sunken ship’s position. On top of the massive amount of plastic pellets washing ashore and the unknown scale of induced chemical spillage, dramatic oil pollution has also been an ongoing reality since the shipwreck.
Now, the MSC company must react and comply with its obligation to urgently remove the remainder of the oil left in the MSC ELSA 3 tanks—out of over 450 tonnes—to avoid further damage to the region’s unique marine environment and local economy. Besides, actual damage to ecosystems and local livelihoods must be duly compensated by the MSC company.
