MSC plans to sue over Mumbai collision
The Indian agency for the liner carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Thursday it plans to sue the owner of a bulk carrier that collided with an MSC vessel outside the Jawaharlal Nehru/Nhava Sheva port complex in August.
D.K. Tewari, chief executive officer of MSC Agency (India), told the Indian business newspaper Mint that his company would sue for damages from the Kuwaiti owner of the Khalijia. In the aftermath of the incident, MSC said the bulk vessel was at fault for the collision, which left the 2,314-TEU MSC Chitra listing at an extreme angle. A preliminary investigation report by India's shipping ministry concurred with the Swiss line, saying the bulk vessel had incorrectly entered a channel leading to the port.
Tewari said of the hundreds of containers that were lost overboard after the collision, 189 are still unaccounted for.
'MSC Chitra was an innocent victim in this crash,' he told the newspaper. 'We will sue the owners of Khalijia once the investigation is over. We will go 10 levels ahead to fight the case for all the damages and losses created by this collision.'
A representative for the shipping ministry told the newspaper the investigation is still ongoing, but that it will be handed over to the government shortly. Part of the damages MSC is likely to seek is related to the cleanup of oil leaked from the MSC vessel after the accident. Experts estimate cleanup alone will cost $10 million.
