A survey by the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) on the environmental impact of the sinking of the container ship MSC Elsa 3 off the Kerala coast on May 25, 2025 found a dead and deformed marine turtle at the shipwreck site and disintegration of oil slick into fragments under the action of heavy monsoonal winds and currents.
According to the preliminary findings of the survey carried out between July 25 to August 21, 2025 onboard the research vessel Sagar Sampada, a large patch of oil film was observed on the surface and it aligned further with the waves towards coastal regions. “Intense coastal upwelling along the southwest coast of India, where traces of Arabian Sea high-saline water masses were noticed,” it said.
MSC Elsa 3 shipwreck off Kerala coast caused significant ecological disruption in south-eastern Arabian Sea, finds study
The water column of coastal stations that include Kozhikode, Munambam, Kochi, Alappuzha and Colachel was found more oxygen-depleted than other transects, indicating the influence of oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the southeastern Arabian Sea. Gelatinous plankton was abundant in the zooplankton nets from the Kollam coast and northward. Blooms of gelatinous plankton were observed in the coastal stations (10 m, 20 m, 30 m and 50 m) of Kochi, Alappuzha and Kollam, as per the preliminary report.
