Maritime traffic hits rock bottom –n°2
Here we are for the Morning Midas, 5,000 metres below sea level, 830 km from Adak Island, one of the 302 Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea between Alaska and the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Morning Midas, which had been on fire since June 3, was operated by the London-based company Zodiac Maritime. The wreck contains 3,048 vehicles, including 70 electric and 681 hybrid, 350 tonnes of diesel and 1,530 tonnes of fuel oil, plus fuel for combustion engine and hybrid cars.
Maritime traffic hits rock bottom
On May 25, 2025, the dilapidated container ship MSC Elsa 3, which was certified as suitable for sea transport by the French group Veritas, sunk south of Kochi, State of Kerala, India. Fifteen days later, a white tide of plastic pellets is invading ports and beaches. Twenty-five kilogram (plastic) bags of pellets wash up on the shore as well. Fishing is banned in a large area. This means desolation for the coastline and thousands of fishermen who live there. The government of the Indian Union is trying to reassure them. Currently 100 meters below sea-level, the wreck of the Elsa 3 should be raised from the seafloor to recover all of the containers in her hold. All the containers that were on the bridge are already adrift. Initial findings suggest that a malfunction in the ballast water tank filling system caused the sudden and uncontrollable list.
MSC, Luxury and Misery
The Swiss-Italien maritime company MSC plays both sides.
The third largest cruise company worldwide, MSC just commissioned two World Class mega-cruise ships from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire with great fanfare: 3.5 billion euros for “Choose France” and mass tourism (see press release of May 31, 2017).
