Kerala High Court allows 3 of 7 foreign crew members of sunken ship MSC ELSA-3 to leave India

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday allowed three foreign crew members of the sunken vessel MSC ELSA-3 to return to their home countries subject to certain conditions [Ivanov Alexander & ors v Union of India & ors].

The Court passed the order on a petition moved by seven crew members who sought the return of the passports and permission to return to their home countries. The petitioners alleged that they have been illegally detained in India for over a year in connection with investigation arising from the sinking of MSC ELSA-3.

Yesterday, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had indicated that the Court was inclined to permit a few of the crew members to leave India.

He pointed out that conditions could be imposed to ensure that they are available to cooperate with investigations whenever required.

Today, the judge allowed an electro-technical officer, a seaman and a motorman, who were aboard MSC-Elsa 3, to leave India.

"They shall execute a simple bond before the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kochi/Thoppumpady; furnish a bank guarantee of ₹1 lakh; submit their permanent mobile numbers and address along with an undertaking to appear online whenever required as witnesses," the Court ordered.

However, the Court refused to allow the remaining petitioners to go back to their home countries for now.

"Persons who have been named in the preliminary enquiry report have to participate (in the investigation being carried out into the sinking of MSC-Elsa 3). I cannot relieve you before your examination is over," the Court explained.

The Court also noted that the International Maritime Organisation's Guidelines on Fair Treatment of Seafarers were not binding in nature and the remaining petitioners were not entitled to immediately leave India.

"If they were binding, then certainly petitioners 1 to 7, their liberties would have been violated, then I would have straight away let them leave," the judge observed.

The case will be heard next on June 15, Monday.

MSC ELSA-3, a Liberia-flagged cargo ship carrying diesel, bunker oil, calcium carbide and plastic nurdles, sank off the Kochi coast in May 2025.

The incident triggered environmental concerns and led to multiple investigations by maritime and police authorities as well as lawsuits.

The petitioners were among the crew members who remained in India since the incident. They were issued a notice directing that no crew member should leave Kochi without permission. Some crew members were eventually allowed to leave India, while others were asked to stay back.

The petitioners, however, argued that despite cooperating with the investigation, they continued to remain stranded in Kochi for nearly 11 months without any charges being framed against them.

The Court had earlier repeatedly questioned the necessity of retaining these crew members in India even after investigations had progressed significantly.

In response, Additional Solicitor General of India P Sreekumar informed the Court that an application under the Merchant Shipping Act has been filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (JFCM), Thoppumpady, on September 12, 2025, for a formal investigation into the casualties caused by the sinking of the ship.

The Court, therefore, directed the Registry to obtain instructions from the JFCM regarding the timeline within which the investigation would be completed.

Today, the Court directed three of the crew members expected to remain in India (including the vessel’s master and chief engineer) to appear before the magistrate on June 12 for their examination in connection with the pending maritime casualty case.

The Court also took note of a report from the Thoppumpady magistrate indicating that the probe into the sinking of MSC-Elsa 3 could be finished within two months.

The crew members' petition was moved through advocates Pranoy K Kottaram, Amitava Majumdar, Goenka Ruchir Bikas Chandra, Ashutosh Tiwari, Sivaraman PL, Athul Babu and Sreenand Udayan.

[Live Coverage]