Months After Kerala Shipwreck Disaster, Report Exposes Shipping Giant MSC’s Trail Of Environmental Violations

Months after a cargo shipwreck off the Kerala coast was declared a state disaster, a report has exposed consistent environmental violations by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the owner of the MSC ELSA 3 which sank in May this year. A report by Greenpeace South Asia, titled 'Below Deck: The Truth Beneath What You Sea', has alleged that the Mediterranean Shipping Company has systematically avoided liability while externalising environmental and social harms onto vulnerable coastal regions in the Global South. The report’s findings gain renewed urgency in the wake of the MSC ELSA 3 shipwreck off the Kerala coast, which caused widespread ecological destruction and economic loss earlier this year.

The investigation outlined how MSC, now the world’s largest container carrier, expanded its fleet by deploying ageing, second-hand vessels to South Asian routes while exploiting regulatory loopholes and flags-of-convenience systems. These practices, the report noted, have repeatedly reduced the company’s accountability in the event of accidents and shifted the burden of environmental risk onto developing countries.

Despite public commitments to sustainable operations, MSC continues to send end-of-life ships to hazardous beaching yards in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan—sites long criticised for unsafe working conditions and severe ecological damage.

Greenpeace’s findings also come at a time when MSC has announced plans to reflag 12 vessels under the Indian registry, following discussions between MSC CEO Soren Toft and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during India Maritime Week 2025. The organisation warns that expansion must be paired with rigorous compliance measures, especially given MSC’s recent record of safety failures in the region.

In May 2025, the Liberia-flagged MSC ELSA 3, already flagged for safety deficiencies, sank off Kerala’s coast, releasing oil, chemicals, and plastic pellets into the sea. On 25 September, the Kerala High Court ordered MSC to pay a Rs 1,227 crore security deposit and upheld the detention of another vessel, MSC AKITETA II, until payment is made.