Nurdles threaten Kerala coast status update

Millions of plastic nurdles washed ashore after the MSC Elsa 3 sank off Kerala, exposing global gaps in regulation as talks in Geneva seek a plastics treaty.

Nurdles threaten Kerala coast as spill cleanup drags on

On May 25 the Liberian-flagged MSC Elsa 3 sank about 14 nautical miles off Kerala, carrying 77,000 sacks of nurdles. A long oil slick from the vessel was partially tackled with aircraft dispersants and salvage teams sealed tanks to prevent leaks. By July only about 7,920 nurdles had been recovered from the 71,500 sacks onboard, leaving millions of pellets to drift ashore along the Arabian Sea coast as monsoon surges intensified cleanup difficulties.

Volunteers and local fishing communities report nurdles littering beaches and fishing nets. The pellets are lightweight and almost impossible to recover, and they act as carriers for toxins, threatening wildlife and potentially affecting seafood safety. The spill has worsened economic hardship for fishing families who already face declining catches and climate driven storms. Kerala has filed a compensation claim against MSC, while the shipowner counters say the case should be heard elsewhere. Globally, pellet spills raise questions about regulation and accountability in the plastics supply chain, a key issue at the UN talks in Geneva.

The Kerala spill exposes a gap in global governance. There are no binding rules that prevent pellet loss or require carriers to report spills. Pellets are treated as ordinary cargo, not as hazardous material, which weakens accountability for cleanup costs and damages. The incident also highlights the political and economic undercurrents in the Geneva talks, where nations and firms debate who should pay for prevention and repair. Yet the human cost is clear: fishing communities face lost income and long cleanup timelines reflect the limits of regulatory enforcement.

Highlights

A chapter in global accountability is being written with this spill.