Kerala HC orders arrest of MSC Palermo, sister ship of sunken vessel Elsa 3

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered the conditional arrest of MV MSC Palermo, a sister ship of MSC Elsa 3 that capsized off the Kerala coast on May 25, 2025. Justice Easwaran S issued the order while considering interim applications in four separate admiralty suits. The plaintiffs alleged that debris from MSC Elsa 3 damaged their fishing vessels and sought compensation.

The court directed the arrest of MSC Palermo until security of around ₹2.6 crore is deposited. The claims in the four suits were for ₹35,08,864, ₹1,30,33,500, ₹34,79,536, and ₹59,86,500. Referring to Rule 19 of the Kerala High Court Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Rules, 2019, the court observed that an arrest can be ordered regardless of whether a caveat has been lodged. It noted that, since the vessel’s owner had voluntarily appeared before the court, no prejudice would be caused by a conditional arrest pending the furnishing of security.

Earlier, the High Court had ordered the conditional arrest of MSC Polo II, MSC Manasa F, and MSC Akiteta II in other suits filed by the government and various private parties. The shipowners have also filed a suit seeking limitation of liability for maritime claims arising from the sinking of MSC Elsa 3, but that matter is yet to be heard.

The plaints were moved by advocates Merline Mathew, Vipin P Varghese, Adarsh Mathew, Anirudh G Kamath, Agustho Norbert, and Megha Madhavan. Senior counsel VJ Mathew appeared for the plaintiffs.
(With LiveLaw inputs)