MSC to sue Kalijia 3 owners as Mumbai port ponders suing MSC

GENEVA`s Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) India agency says it will sue the owner of the 2,314-ton Khalijia 3 following its collision with the 2,314-TEU MSC Chitra in the Mumbai ship channel August 7.

MSC Agency (India) CEO Deepak Tewari said his company will sue Gulf Rocks Co, Kuwait, the owner of the Khalijia 3, which MSC faults in the collision, said American Shipper.


An initial inquiry into the incident by India`s director general of shipping found that the Khalijia 3 was at fault for the incident that caused an oil spill of an estimated 400 metric tons that will supposedly cost US$10 million to clean up, reported Newark`s Journal of Commerce There are other multi-million dollar claims over lost business during the shutdown of the harbour.


A preliminary inquiry found that the bulker entered the navigation channel at both the wrong time and the wrong angle.


"MSC Chitra was an innocent victim in this crash," MSC`s Captain Tewari told the media. "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."


But Mumbai`s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) said it would sue MSC, the world`s second largest container shipping company after Maersk, for an accident despite evidence that it was least culpable.