MSC Elsa 3 Sinkage: Kerala High Court Permits 3 Out Of 7 Foreign Crew Members To Return To Their Home Countries

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (June 9) has allowed three out of the seven foreign crew members of the sunken Liberian-flagged vessel MSC Elsa 3 ship , to return to their home countries on certain conditions.

The three persons permitted to leave are not named in the preliminary inquiry report in the formal investigation under the Merchant Shipping Act nor are they accused in the criminal case registered by the Coastal Police Station, Fort Kochi.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the order while considering a plea by seven 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 conditions imposed of the petitioners 5 to 7 are as follows:

"The petitioners shall execute a simple bond for Rs. 10 lakhs with two solvent sureties before the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kochi and Thoppumpady or furnish a bank guarantee of ₹1 lakh each undertaking that they will cooperate with the trial of the case as well as the investigation conducted under Section 360 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. They shall furnish their permanent addresses and mobile numbers and file affidavits with the above details before the learned Magistrate including an undertaking to appear online as and when directed by the court as witnesses."

With respect to two of the petitioners, the Court did not pass any order yet permitting them to leave since it was of the view that their statements had to be taken since they are part of a statutory investigation.

Justice Bechu orally remarked:

"I don't want to relieve you before your examination is over. That is not proper. Magistrate has been directed to do a statutory investigation. Persons who have been named in the preliminary enquiry report has to participate."

The Court has directed petitioners 1 and 3 to appear before the JFCM Thoppumpady on Friday (June 12) so as to enable the Magistrate to fix an early date for examining them.

"Having regard to the long period of time during which the petitioners 1 and 3 have been in the country, I am of the view that the learned Magistrate must prepone the date of examination of petitioners 1 and 3 from 27.06.2026 to an earlier date. To enable the fixing of such a date, the petitioners 1 and 3 shall appear before the Magistrate on 12.06.2026)at 10:30 am. Thereafter, the learned Magistrate will be at liberty to fix a date and time to continue the investigation," the Court ordered.

The petitioners 2 to 4 are arrayed in a criminal case registered by the Coastal Police Station in which Final Report has been filed on May 30. Today, the counsel for the SHO of the police station submitted that the defects noted in the final report shall be rectified without delay, at the earliest and be re-submitted.

The afore petitioners' counsel requested that they can be permitted to leave the country on grant of bail. However, the Court orally suggested that the whole proceedings can be sped up since the petitioners have the option of pleading guilty:

"I'm trying to speed up the process. Otherwise, it can go on indefinitely...You can plead guilty. In a matter of 2 weeks, all this can be completed."

The Court was of the view that all the petitioners cannot be repatriated immediately on the basis of the Guidelines for Fair Treatment of Seafarers in the Event of a Maritime Incident since the said IMO guidelines are not mandatory in nature.

"As part of comity of nations, every country is bound to aspire to comply with it. As much as possible, subject to domestic laws...If they are binding, then certainly petitioners 1 to 7, their liberties have been violated. Then I would have straight away let them leave...," Justice Bechu orally noted.

The case is now posted to Monday (June 15) for further consideration.

Yesterday, the Court had called for a report from the Judicial First Class Magistrate - I, Thoppumpady regarding the formal investigation into the casualty caused due to the sinkage of MSC Elsa 3 in Kochi and asked for a timeline to complete the same since two of the petitioners have been arrayed in the same.

It had also directed the Registry to get instructions from the JFMC regarding the reason for delay in commencing the investigation and regarding the details of the proceedings from September 30, 2025, i.e., the date of receipt of formal application for investigation submitted as per the Merchant Shipping Act.

With respect to the criminal proceedings pending against four of the petitioners, the Court had asked for an update on the date of appearance fixed in the said case.

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.

ASGI P. Sreekumar appeared for the Union, Directorate General and MMD.

Case No: WP(C) No. 2026

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