MSC Elsa 3 Sinkage: Kerala High Court Permits Two More Foreign Crew Members To Return To Their Home Countries

The Kerala High Court on Monday (03 August) permitted two more foreign crew members of the sunken Liberian-flagged vessel 'MSC Elsa 3' to return to their home countries on certain conditions. 

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the order. 

The Court was considering the plea by crew members of the ship, who have been staying in India for more than one year since the vessel sank off the coast of Kerala on May 25, 2025. The Court had earlier permitted three out of the seven crew members of MSC Elsa 3 ship to return to their home countries. 

Today, the Court has permitted petitioners 2 and 4— who are Chief Officer and second engineer of the ship, to leave India. 

"Petitioners 2 and 4 are permitted to leave India subject to conditions a bond of 10 lakhs with two sureties with cash security of 1 lakh before JFCM, Kochi, undertaking that they will cooperate with the investigation conducted under Section 360. The petitioner 2 and 4 shall also furnish their permanent address, mobile number…” Court ordered. 

The Court had earlier orally expressed its inclination to permit the two petitioners to leave the country, since they were unnamed in the preliminary inquiry report. 

With the Court now permitting two more crew members to leave India, only the master of the vessel and the chief engineer from MSC Elsa 3 remain in the country. 

The matter is now posted after Onam vacation for further consideration. 

The petition is moved by Senior Advocate Grashious Kuriakose and Advocates Pranoy Kottaram, Amitava Majumdar, Goenka Ruchir Bikas Chandra, Ashutosh Tiwari, Sivaraman P.L, Athul Babu, and Sreenand Udayan.

Case No: WP(C) No. 17115/2026

Case Title: Ivanov Alexander and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.