Container shipping needs a new global liability regime
MUMBAI: India must push for a new global regime to govern
container shipping
liability, safety, and environmental protection in line with evolving maritime risks, a government official has said after two back-to-back incidents involving container ships off the coast of
Kerala
in a fortnight raise alarm bells.
'The two incidents bring into sharp focus the broader regulatory blind spot surrounding container shipping, which, unlike oil tankers, remains outside the purview of comprehensive global liability frameworks - despite the environmental and infrastructural risks they now regularly present,' the official said.
'Container ships like '
MSC
ELSA-3' and '
Wan Hai 503
' are not covered under compensation regimes equivalent to those for oil tankers, despite carrying hazardous cargo and posing major risks. High-profile incidents such as the 'Ever Given' (Suez Canal) and 'DALI' (Baltimore bridge collapse in the U.S.) underscore the need for a dedicated international liability regime for container shipping,' the official said.
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An explosion in one of the cargo containers on Monday triggered a fire that continues to rage, engulfing the Singapore-flagged container ship 'Wan Hai 503', about 44 nautical miles off the coast of Azhikkal in Kerala.
While the
Indian Coast Guard
ships are at the site making valiant efforts to douse the fire, the stricken ship owned by Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines, has started to list (tilt) to one side, with many fearing that the ship may sink, raising the spectre of an environmental hazard due to the presence of dangerous cargo in some of the containers.
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Already an unspecified number of containers have fallen overboard following the explosion and fire.
'This isn't just a shipping disaster,' says ex-mariner Sandeep Maurya. 'It's a loud alarm for the entire shipping industry,' he noted.
The mishap demands rethinking cargo handling for extreme climates, investing in fail-safe refrigeration and monitoring for hazardous goods and strengthening global safety protocols for dangerous materials at sea.
'The lives of seafarers and the integrity of the global supply chain depend on it,' Maurya added.
On May 25, the Liberian-flagged container ship 'MSC ELSA 3', was en route to Kochi from Vizhinjam, carrying over 640 containers, including at least 12 containing hazardous cargo such as calcium carbide, when it capsized and sank off the coast of Kochi.
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