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.
Valiaveli Beach, Thiruvananthapuram District, State of Kerala, India © B. P. Deepu
Industrial Plastic Pellets (IPP)
For the record, the dilapidated MSC Baltic III, grounded in Canada since February 15, 2025, transported eight containers of IPP. They have been removed (1). The Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong, operated by a German shipowner, which collided with the American tanker Stena Immaculate on March 10, 2025, also transported IPP containers, which spilled along the coast of the Humber estuary in the northeast of the United Kingdom (2).
The International Maritime Organisation only recommends that containers carrying IPP “should be stowed under deck wherever reasonably practicable, or inboard in sheltered areas of exposed decks”. It still does not consider IPPs to be dangerous goods.
On February 2, 2023, Robin des Bois brought a complaint before the judicial tribunal of Brest about marine, coastal and littoral pollution after a massive arrival of IPP from sea on the coasts of Vendee, Loire-Atlantique, Morbihan, and lastly Seine-Maritime. These pellets come from at least one of container of IPP fallen off of a ship in transit between the sea of Iroise and the Golf of Gascogne. The complaint (pdf) [only in French] is still being examined by the magistrates.
Yesterday, June 9, 2025, north of Kochi, India, the Taiwanese container ship MV Wan Hai 503, 268-meter long, flying the Singaporean flag, experienced an explosion in one or several of the containers stored below the deck. She was coming from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and heading towards Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Four crewmembers are missing: two Taiwanese men, one Burmese man, and one Indonesian man. Forty containers fell into the water. After saving the majority of the crew, the Indian coastguard attempted to control the fire, but pollution in the Indian Ocean is already guaranteed. The Wan Hai 503 is drifting. This container ship was built in 2005, and previous port State controls (in the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Guatemala, Malaysia, …) didn`t reveal any deficiencies. However, the most recent inspection in the port of Mumbai on May 7, 2025 noted three deficiencies relative to the prevention of accidents.
MV Wan Hai 503, June 9, 2025 © India Coast Guard
On June 3, 2025, the car carrier Morning Midas, coming from China and heading towards Mexico, fell victim to a fire in the Pacific Ocean. Today, June 10, she’s still on fire and drifting off the coast of Alaska. She’s monitored by a deep-sea tugboat and the American coastguard. Her hull has deteriorated due to the intensity and duration of the fire. She is carrying 3,159 vehicles, of which 65 are electric and 681 are hybrid. This means lithium pollution. The whole crew was transferred to the container ship Cosco Hellas, which flies the Maltese flag.
Morning Midas, June 8, 2025 © US Coast Guard
(1) Previous press releases on the MSC Baltic III by Robin des Bois:
MSC Baltic III, February 17, 2025 [only in French]
Robin des Bois les trace en mer et à quai, February 28, 2025 with update on April 24, 2025 [only in French]
(2) Previous press releases on the Solong and the Stena Immaculate by Robin des Bois:
Collision – explosion / Solong – Stena Immaculate, March 10, 2025 [only in French]
Collision / Solong – Stena Immaculate – Press release n°2, March 11, 2025 [only in French]
La plaie liste des granulés de plastique – Collision / Solong – Stena Immaculate – Press release n°3, March 18, 2025 [only in French]
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