NDRF hazmat team moves to Kerala to deal with chemical spill risk

India's National Disaster Response Force, a specialist force meant to tackle natural and man-made disasters, has mobilised a hazardous material (HazMat) truck and a 30-member team from Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu, to Kollam, Kerala, where suspected chemical-laden shipping containers are washing ashore. This is in the aftermath of the cargo vessel MSC ELSA3, carrying 640 containers and massive amounts of fuel, sinking off Kochi in the morning hours of Sunday (May 25). The NDRF team has been mobilised following a request from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority.

The HazMat truck is purpose-built to monitor and deal with chemical, biological, and nuclear risk situations. Such vehicles are equipped with detection and identification equipment, NBC filtration systems, and decontamination chambers. They also have communication capabilities for live audio, video, and data exchange with remote command centres. The truck is expected to reach Kollam in the late hours of Monday.

Though the ship sank about 70 km off its destination port city of Kochi, the sinkage site is barely 35 km from Alappuzha (Aleppey) district in Kerala. Initial reports indicate that multiple containers are washing ashore in coastal regions south of Kochi, Kerala. It is noteworthy that rough sea conditions, gusty winds and rainfall prevail in the region, owing to the active southwest monsoon.

The Liberia-flagged container vessel was sailing on a day-long voyage between two ports in Kerala-from Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram, to Kochi, when it began to tilt sideways at noon on Saturday (May 24). All 24 crew members of the cargo ship have been rescued by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy.

Of the 640 containers carried by the sunken vessel, 13 contained hazardous cargo, and 12 contained calcium carbide. The ship had in its tanks 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil. Indian Coast Guard ship Saksham, with pollution response equipment, has been positioned at the scene.

The sensitive coast of Kerala is home to both a vivid biodiversity and a major tourist hotspot. ICG has geared up pollution response preparedness and coordination with the state administration for all possible scenarios. ICG aircraft with advanced oil spill mapping technology is undertaking an assessment of the situation, ICG had said.

According to the Indian Coast Guard, at around 1:25 pm Saturday, the shipping company MSC's officials intimated Indian authorities regarding the cargo vessel that was taking in water and tilted significantly. The shipping firm requested immediate assistance. In response, the Indian Coast Guard deployed two ships and its Dornier short-range maritime patrol aircraft. An Indian Navy vessel was also part of the operation.

The sunken vessel's 24 crew members comprised a Russian, a Georgian, two Ukrainians, and 20 Filipinos.