The initial probe report by DG Shipping into the 'MSC Elsa 3' has revealed some major flaws with not just the ship, but also the organisation that certified it.

The initial probe report by DG Shipping into the 'MSC Elsa 3' has revealed some major flaws with not just the ship, but also the organisation that certified it.

The initial probe report by DG Shipping into the 'MSC Elsa 3' has revealed some major flaws with not just the ship, but also the organisation that certified it.

More than a year after the sinking of the MSC Elsa 3 (IMO: 9123221) off the coast of Kerala, a probe by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has revealed some major flaws with not just the ship, but also the organisation that certified it.

Back in May 2025, the Liberian-flagged ship sank about 14.6 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala after severely listing (tilting to one side due to the entry of water inside the vessel).

According to a detailed probe by DG Shipping, recently submitted to the Kerala High Court, the vessel carried a Safety Management Certificate issued by Bureau Veritas, a French ship classification society.

The certificate, which stated that the vessel was fully seaworthy—despite its flaws—was valid till 2028, as per ET Infra, which accessed the DGS' preliminary probe report.

“The classification society's survey regime did not detect the deteriorating condition of hull integrity systems or the inadequacy of the ship's safety management implementation,” the probe report had said.

It noted that the vessel also had a Safety Management System (SMS) that was approved by Bureau Veritas, despite "procedural weaknesses", such as maintenance procedures, spare parts management, and a lack of contingency protocols.

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"These systemic failures directly contributed to the catastrophic heeling system breakdown that ultimately led to the vessel's sinking,” DG Shipping said, noting that the incident was an example of compliance being only on paper to hide glaring flaws underneath.

Issues were not limited to the ship

DG Shipping also pointed out other critical problems, including those with the ballast water management and the integrated heeling correction systems, which led the vessel to develop an unusual list (tilt).

This led to a crucial question: how no one at the Vizhinjam Port—where the MSC Elsa 3 was last loaded—had flagged this issue, given that it was quite obvious to see.

"No proper action appears to have been taken before the vessel was permitted by the port authorities to sail, nor were relevant maritime authorities such as the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) alerted. The fact that the vessel remained in a heavily listed condition for over 24 hours without triggering coordinated intervention points to a serious lapse in proactive maritime safety enforcement,” the report noted.

As a result, some of the ship's cargo—which came under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG), such as plastic nurdles, furnace oil, and diesel—spilt into the sea as the vessel sank after listing, causing a grave ecological crisis in the region.

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This, in turn, had a severe impact on fishing communities in the region, who joined the legal battle against the MSC Shipping Investment Ltd, a unit of Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A that managed the vessel.

Going forward, the probe is expected to investigate the flaws at every level, in addition to try bridging the information gap caused because the DGS officials did not have access to the ship's Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), which typically captures essential navigational data, communications, and other operational parameters.

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