Kerala High Court Orders Conditional Arrest Of MSC Elsa 3's Sister Ship MSC Palermo Over Maritime Suits Claiming ₹2.6 Crore In Damages

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (August 12) ordered the conditional arrest of MV MSC Palermo, a sister ship of MSC Elsa 3 that capsized off the coast of Kerala on May 25, 2025.Justice Easwaran S. passed the order in the interim applications made in four separate admiralty suits. The plaintiffs claimed that they have suffered damage to their fishing vessels caused by the floating debris of MSC Elsa 3 in the sea.The conditional arrest of the 1st defendant/1st respondent ship, MSC Palermo, is to be done until a security totaling around Rs. 2.6 Crores is deposited in the Court. The claims in the four suits were for the amounts Rs. 35,08,864, Rs. 1,30,33,500, Rs. 34,79,536 and Rs. 59,86,500.The Court observed:"Rule 19 of the Kerala High Court Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Rules, 2019 provides for arrest irrespective of the lodging of caveat by the respondent. Although there is no caveat, in view of the voluntary appearance of the owner of the vessel before this Court, this Court is of the view that no prejudice would be caused to the 1st respondent if a conditional order of arrest is ordered till the furnishing of the security by the 1st respondent."Earlier, the High Court had ordered for the conditional arrest of M.V. MSC Polo II, MSC Manasa F and MV MSC Akiteta II in other suits preferred by the government and various other private parties. Thereafter, the shipowners had filed a suit praying for limitation of liability for maritime claims arising from the losses caused due to the sinkage of MSC Elsa III. However, the same has not yet come before the Court for consideration.The plaint/petition was moved by Advocates Merline Mathew, Vipin P. Varghese, Adarsh Mathew, Anirudh G. Kamath, Agustho Norbert, Megha Madhavan. Senior counsel V.J. Mathew appeared for the plaintiffs.Case No: Adml. Suit Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 of 2025Case Title: Purushothaman v. Owners and Parties Interested in the vessel MV MSC Palermo and Anr., and other casesClick to Read/Download Order in Adml. Suit No. 15/2025Click to Read/Download Order in Adml. Suit No. 16/2025Click to Read/Download Order in Adml. Suit No. 17/2025Click to Read/Download Order in Adml. Suit No. 18/2025

Kerala High Court Orders Conditional Arrest Of MSC Elsa 3's Sister Ship MSC Palermo Over Maritime Suits Claiming ₹2.6 Crore In Damages

K. Salma Jennath

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