Kerala HC demands ₹6 crore for MSC Manasa F, another vessel in Vizhinjam,from the company for cashew cargo loss

KOCHI : The Kerala High Court has ordered the arrest of Liberian-flagged vessel MV MSC Manasa F, along with among others, its paraphernalia, furniture, etc., at present anchored in the Vizhinjam Port, on an admiralty suit filed by five exporters who lost their consignment following the sinking of Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC Elsa 3 off the Kochi coast on May 25.

The Vizhinjam port authorities have been instructed in this regard. The High Court Division Bench’s order was issued based on a petition filed by the Cashew Export Promotion Council. The sunken ship Elsa had cashew nuts. The Cashew Promotion Council says that they have suffered a loss of Rs. 6 crore.

They want to compensate for this loss. In this situation, the High Court has also directed that the ship be released if a demand draft of Rs 6 crore is presented in the court. With this, MSC informed the court that it was depositing the money. It has been informed that the bond will be given afternoon.

The High Court had earlier issued stringent orders to the governments to take strict action in the incident of the sinking of the MSC Elsa at sea. The High Court, which stated that there should be no negligence in taking action against the shipping company, also questioned the spending of money from the public treasury for pollution control and other related matters.