Video: MSC Containership Hits Indian Fishing Boat
India’s fishing community is again complaining about merchant ships sailing too close to the coast and hitting the commercial fishing vessels working off Kerala on the Arabian Sea. In the latest instance, a smaller MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company containership collided with one of the fishing vessels, causing damage and a loss of the day’s catch, but luckily, there were no injuries.
The fishing vessel reports it was hauling in the day’s catch, approximately $11,000 of mackerel, at around 5:30 pm local time on October 1, when the MSC Silver II was spotted bearing down on the community of fishing vessels. The boat, which was ultimately hit by the containership, said it tried to radio the MSC vessel to get it to change course. Other fishing vessels working in the area said they raised an alarm, and the MSC vessel responded, but it was too late for the one boat that was grazed by the MSC vessel.
The reports indicate the fishing boat sustained approximately $5,600 in damage, as well as the loss of its net, but that none of the 45 people working aboard the boat were injured. They, however, are saying they have lost their livelihood while the vessel is repaired and that they will have to buy a costly new net.
MSC Silver II, built in 2002, is a 37,500-dwt vessel with a capacity of 1,700 TEU. It has been sailing for MSC since 2022.
The fishing union complains that the IMO regulations require the vessels to operate just 27 nautical miles from the shore, and they assert that many ships sail closer. They report eight ship accidents resulting in the deaths of 15 workers and say that many of the larger ships do not stop after a collision. The group says its demands to double the distance from shore for the sea lane to 50 nautical miles have been ignored by the Indian authorities.
Luckily, MSC Silver II responded so that it was not a fatal collision or the loss of the vessel. The police report that they have not received a complaint, and the fishermen’s association says MSC’s agent settled privately with the fishing vessel after the incident.