6 months ago
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The Greenpeace South Asia connected Thursday (November 13, 2025) released its caller investigative study connected the sinking of MSC ELSA 3 on the seashore disconnected Kerala.
The study exposes however MSC, the world’s largest instrumentality bearer company, has systematically expanded its operations utilizing ageing vessels and exploiting regulatory loopholes and flag-of- convenience practices that person repeatedly caused biology disasters successful South Asia.
The study titled 'Below Deck: The Truth Beneath What You Sea (Mediterranean Shipping Company — MSC)’ throws airy connected a firm exemplary that limits incidental liability and externalises biology and societal costs onto weaker jurisdictions successful the Global South. Urging the MSC to comply with the Kerala High Court’s bid directing it to wage ₹1,227 crore arsenic a compensation information deposit, implicit 8,000 petitions and postcard signatures are being delivered to the MSC office by a squad of volunteers.
The study says that the MSC became the world’s largest instrumentality bearer by deploying ageing, second-hand vessels to South Asian routes nether flags of convenience, reducing costs and limiting incidental liability, arsenic portion of a treble modular signifier that has repeatedly shifted the load of biology hazard onto processing nations. Besides, the study notes that contempt commitments to sustainable recycling, MSC continues to systematically dispose of ageing ships successful South Asian beaching yards, notably successful India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, wherever conditions are notoriously hazardous for some workers and the environment.
Recently, the MSC announced plans to reflag 12 vessels nether the Indian registry followed by discussions betwixt MSC CEO Søren Toft and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during India Maritime Week 2025. However, the study says specified enlargement should travel with strict compliance with biology and information norms, particularly fixed MSC’s caller grounds of negligence and ecological harm successful South Asian waters.
The MSC ELSA 3, a Liberia-flagged vas with a known past of information deficiencies, sank disconnected the Kerala seashore successful May 2025, spilling oil, chemicals, and monolithic amounts of integrative nurdles that devastated marine ecosystems and coastal livelihoods. The Greenpeace emphasised that the institution should promptly comply with the High Court bid and the Kerala authorities should enactment urgently to guarantee that compensation tin scope affected communities arsenic soon arsenic possible, done a transparent and inclusive mechanism.
Impacted communities person already raised concerns astir being near retired of the ceremonial assertion processes owed to deficiency of documentation. “In the airy of efforts by MSC to evade accountability, the State should besides make a decentralised, accessible claims strategy to guarantee that nary 1 is near behind,” said Amruta S.N., clime campaigner astatine Greenpeace India.
