A pollution risk assessment by the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) on the containers that fell into the sea following the fire and explosion aboard the Singapore-flagged container vessel Wan Hai 503 off the Kerala coast on June 9, 2025, has stated that some shoreline impacts may be experienced in the future if the containers lose their cargo in the marine environment.

“At this time, ITOPF considers that these cargoes do not pose a significant risk to the marine environment. However, if containment were to be lost over time due to corrosion of the container or loss of the integrity of the packaging (likely to be in decades), some shoreline impacts may be experienced,” said the container risk assessment report submitted by the vessel’s registered owner before the National Green Tribunal.

The Southern Bench, which took suo motu cognisance of the report, Container vessel on fire off Kerala coast, published in , had asked the owners to submit a detailed report providing details of the cargo and its environmental impact.

The vessel was carrying approximately 1,754 containers at the time of the incident. It was subsequently towed to the port of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates on August 24, 2025. The registered owners had entrusted the ITOPF, an organisation funded by the global shipping industry, with preparing a container risk assessment in compliance with the tribunal’s directive.

The report said the cargo in the containers comprised a wide range of products, categorised as miscellaneous goods, plastic resins and pellets, food, and inorganic chemicals.

“These cargo types are anticipated to behave differently if released into the marine environment, with some substances, due to their size and density, remaining on the seabed. However, other less dense products, such as foodstuffs, some miscellaneous goods (toy parts), and plastic products (elastomers and/or nylon chips), if released, would be expected to float on the sea surface and travel under metocean [combined physical weather and ocean elements at a specific marine location] conditions before stranding on the shoreline,” it said.

A. Biju Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, said plastic nurdles would contaminate the shoreline once washed ashore. Fish and marine mammals often mistake floating plastic pellets for food, resulting in organ damage and disruption across the marine food chain, he said.

Officials of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board said remedial measures had been initiated following the two shipwrecks off the Kerala coast involving MSC Elsa 3 and Wan Hai 503 in 2025. A draft Oil Spill Contingency Plan has been prepared to map the Environmental Sensitive Index of oil spills along the Kerala coast and to develop response-focused contingency plans, they said.