MSC ELSA-3 Ship Accident; Shipping Company Disputes Compensation Amount

Kochi: The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has filed an affidavit in court contesting the Kerala government’s demand for Rs 9,531 crore in compensation over the MSC ELSA-3 ship accident. The company stated that it is not liable to pay the amount and argued that the incident did not cause any damage to the marine ecosystem.
MSC also challenged the legal grounds of the case, claiming that the accident occurred outside India’s territorial waters and therefore falls beyond the jurisdiction of the Kerala government. The company maintained that the state has no authority to initiate an admiralty suit in the matter.
The vessel MSC Aquitaine-II, detained as part of legal proceedings related to the incident, should be released immediately, MSC said in the affidavit. It further argued that compensation for fishing losses cannot be claimed by the state, as the decision to impose a fishing ban was taken by the Kerala government itself. It argued that regulating or restricting fishing activity is the responsibility of the central government, not private companies.
Kerala, in its stand, had held the company responsible for severe disruption to coastal livelihoods. The fishing ban declared following the incident affected large sections of the marine economy and fishing families across the coast. The state had cited both environmental risk and economic loss as grounds for seeking compensation.