According to local reports a number of containers and bags of cargo from damaged boxes washed ashore on beaches in the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala.The local government is warning local residents to stay away from the containers that could contain hazardous cargo. Video posted on social media site X showed people watching as containers battered against the coastline.

The 28-year old, Liberian-registered, MSC Elsa 3 was reported to have 640 containers onboard 13 listed as containing hazardous cargo and 12 with calcium carbide.

One local report said that 34 containers had been reported stranded on the Kerala coast while aerial surveys Indian Coast Guard showed that 100 containers had fallen off the vessel.

An oil spill has also been detected from the bunker fuel onboard the vessel. The Indian Express reported that Coast Guard patrol vessels ICGS Saksham, ICGS Vikram and ICGS Samarth utilised infrared cameras to detect the oil spill area and sprayed dispersants on the area. The slick has not reached the shore.

The MSC Elsa 3 had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of fuel oil in the vessel’s fuel tanks.

The 1997-built MSC Elsa 3 is owned and managed by the world’s largest container shipping company Geneva-based MSC, according to Equasis. The 28-year-old vessel’s last Port State Control inspection was in Mangalore on 19 November 2024 when 5 deficiencies were found.

The MSC Elsa 3 was on a voyage Vizhinjam to Kochi when it developed a 26 degree starboard list on 24 May. All 24 crew were safely evacuated from the vessel by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy and the container ship sank on 25 May at 07:50 hrs local time.