Coast Guard battles to contain oil & chemical spill off Kerala

KOCHI: The Kerala govt issued a statewide alert Sunday as Coast Guard teams battled to contain a potentially worsening spill of oil and hazardous chemicals from Liberian cargo ship MSC ELSA 3 that capsized and sank in the Arabian Sea, 14.6 nautical miles off Thottappally harbour in Alappuzha, in the morning.The vessel carrying 643 containers - 13 of them bearing hazardous cargo - had sent out distress signals around 1.25pm Saturday when it was 38 nautical miles from Kochi. Coast Guard responded immediately and evacuated 21 crew members. By the time MSC ELSA 3 started capsizing closer to the harbour around 7.50am Sunday, Indian Navy vessel INS Sujatha rescued the last three crew members.