Kochi | The Kerala police on Wednesday registered a case of rash navigation against the owner, master and crew of the Liberian flagged ship, MSC Elsa 3 that sank off the state's coast last month.
An FIR under sections 282 (rash navigation of vessel), 285 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 286 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 288 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance) of the BNS was registered by the police.
The FIR by Fort Kochi Coastal police station states that the owners, master and crew handled the ship, which was carrying combustible and explosive cargo, which was dangerous to human life and property, in a negligent manner, leading to its sinking on May 24-25 near Alappuzha district.
It further said that the owners, master and crew of the vessel handled the ship in a negligent manner despite being aware of the dangerous cargo it was carrying.
The FIR also states that the cargo, including plastic materials, that floated into the sea impacted the environment and the livelihoods of the fishing community in the region, leading to loss of lakhs of rupees to them.
The case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a man called C Shamji from Alappuzha district.
The move comes a day after the Congress in Kerala criticised the state government for not lodging a case in connection with the shipwreck.
Last month, the state government had declared the wreckage of the cargo ship as a state-specific disaster.
The Kerala government had also asked the vessel owner to take full responsibility for the damage caused by the sinking of the ship.
The ship had sunk about 14.6 nautical miles from Thottappally in Alappuzha district.
The vessel had gone down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide. It was also loaded with 84.44 MT of diesel and 367.1 MT of furnace oil, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Subsequently, diving operations were carried out to stop fuel leakage from the vessel and these were successfully completed by June 10, according to a situation report issued by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA).
Efforts are currently on to stop leakage from one of the main engine lube oil tanks, it said.
Besides that, onshore, the container salvage operations are continuing with 56 containers delivered to port and four more under active recovery, it said.
Additionally, the Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC) and volunteers are carrying out beach clean-up across Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari, the report said.
