The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) convened the 28th National Oil and Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Spill Crisis Management Plan (NOH-CMP) and Preparedness Review in New Delhi on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, bringing together more than 80 representatives from central and state ministries, government bodies, major ports, and oil industry stakeholders. The review was chaired by Director General Paramesh Sivamani of the ICG and centred on strengthening India's defensive readiness against oil spills and HNS emergencies within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Why HNS Spills Have Moved to the Forefront

While combating oil spills has long been a core ICG mandate, the rapid growth of India's maritime infrastructure has pushed HNS incidents to the top of the risk register. Director General Sivamani emphasised at the review that integrating globally accepted best practices and cutting-edge response technologies is essential to neutralising environmental hazards effectively.

The urgency is underscored by the MSC Elsa 3 disaster. The container vessel sank approximately 38 nautical miles off Kochi, Kerala, on 25 May 2025 — the most consequential HNS incident in recent Indian maritime history. All 24 crew members were safely rescued. The ship was carrying 640 containers, of which 13 held hazardous noxious cargo; 12 of those are believed to have contained calcium carbide, a substance that reacts violently with seawater to produce highly flammable acetylene gas, heat, and calcium hydroxide — each posing serious risks to human health and the marine environment.

Scale of the MSC Elsa 3 Catastrophe

Beyond the chemical hazard, the vessel carried 85 tonnes of diesel, 367 tonnes of furnace oil, and thousands of sacks of raw plastic nurdles — lentil-sized pellets measuring 1–5 mm. Debris and nurdles spread across nine coastal districts in Kerala, including Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram, and drifted over 100 kilometres to Kanyakumari and parts of Tamil Nadu. By June, ocean currents had carried them as far as northern Sri Lanka.

The spill triggered a months-long fishing ban, severely impacting coastal fishing communities. Nurdles are particularly insidious: they absorb toxins, degrade into micro- and nano-plastics, and enter the marine food chain through fish and filter feeders. Total estimated damages were pegged at ₹9,531 crore — a figure disputed by the shipping company.

The Legal Gap the Incident Exposed

India's membership of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, 1992, offered little relief: the Elsa 3 was not a tanker carrying oil as primary cargo, meaning pollution damage from the incident falls outside the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions. The disaster would, however, have been covered by the 2010 HNS Convention — had it been in force. The HNS Convention addresses personal injury claims, fire and explosion events, and incidents involving a wide range of hazardous substances. Once ratified and operational, it would provide compensation for clean-up operations, preventive measures, environmental monitoring, property damage, and economic losses.

India's Existing Response Framework

The ICG has served as the central coordinating authority for marine environment protection since March 1986. The National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP), drafted by the ICG and approved in 1993, remains the foundational national framework for oil spill preparedness. To operationalise this plan, the ICG has established four Pollution Response Centres — at Mumbai, Chennai, Port Blair, and Vadinar — that serve as frontline hubs for spill containment and response. The ICG responded promptly to the Elsa 3 incident, engaging salvors to recover containers and deploying efforts to minimise pollution from a reported oil slick extending from the vessel.

What Comes Next

The 28th NOH-CMP review is expected to yield updated protocols and inter-agency coordination frameworks. Critically, India's accession to the 2010 HNS Convention remains an unresolved policy priority — one that the Elsa 3 incident has made harder to defer. Coastal communities and industry stakeholders will be watching whether Tuesday's review translates into binding regulatory action or remains procedural.