Saturation diving starts as part of MSC Elsa 3 salvage effort

India’s Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) reports that saturation diving has commenced as part of the effort to remove the remaining fuel on board the sunken container vessel MSC Elsa 3 off the country’s southern state of Kerala.

Smit Salvage has been tasked by the vessel’s owner MSC and P&I insurer North Standard for the works, which are being carried out on the wreck as it lies at a depth of approximately 51 metres 14 nautical miles off the coast.

Smit Salvage expects to complete the fuel removal by September 25. However, the company has also admitted that adverse weather conditions may impact operations.

MSC Elsa 3 was believed to be carrying 450 tonnes of diesel and very low-sulphur fuel oil when she sank off Kerala on May 25.

All 24 of the ship's crew were safely rescued, though many among its cargo of 640 containers later ended up on a number of beaches in Kerala while tiny plastic pellets that had originated from the ship eventually washed ashore in northern Sri Lanka.

MSC and some of the ship’s crew have been charged with negligence and recklessness in connection with the sinking, which the Kerala Government had described as a “state-specific disaster.”