Chennai celebrates World Ocean Day in solidarity with impacted communities from the Kerala shipwreck disaster

Chennai, Greenpeace India marked World Oceans Day 2025 with a powerful celebration at Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai, where around 30 volunteers came together for an early morning beach cleanup drive. A striking art of an Olive Ridley turtle was displayed to highlight the critical role the ocean plays in sustaining biodiversity, regulating the climate, and supporting coastal communities. The action also comes in solidarity with the Kerala population and the urgent need for transparency, cleanup, and accountability in response to the recent shipwreck accident and its ongoing consequences.

This year, World Ocean Day precedes the opening of the United Ocean Conference, from 9th to 13th June in France, where world leaders will convene to discuss their commitments for the protection of the global ocean. In the meantime, the dramatic impacts of the recent MSC ELSA 3 shipwreck offshore Kerala (on May 25th) keep unfolding with fuel and hazardous cargo threats looming at sea, while broken containers of unknown cargo and insane amounts of plastic pellets have been washing ashore in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India — amid monsoon weather conditions impeding initial environmental assessment and clean-up initiatives. Just 4 years after the X-Press Pearl disaster in Sri Lanka, the region’s marine life, unique coastal ecosystems, and fisher communities are facing yet another shipping disaster with lasting consequences, of which the scale remains to be fully understood.

“From the sands of Besant Nagar to the shores of Kerala, the ocean connects us all. Today’s cleanup drive in Chennai was not just about collecting waste — it was a moment of collective care, led by local volunteers who know the ocean is their lifeline. As Chennai’s coast faces increasing plastic pollution and rising sea levels, our solidarity with Kerala’s fisherfolk is a reminder that ocean protection begins at home. The MSC shipwreck has severely impacted marine biodiversity and threatened livelihoods along the coasts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We urgently need accountability for the MSC disaster, but we also need long-term investment in building coastal resilience,” said Yasin Fahmidha, Campaigner at Greenpeace India.

“We are calling on local authorities and the MSC company to release the full cargo manifest of the MSC ELSA 3. The people in South India have the right to know and expect a detailed statement on the circumstances of the accident, as well as a comprehensive clean-up and compensation plan from MSC, who have not yet communicated two weeks after the shipwreck. When the decarbonization of the shipping industry and global plastics pollution are discussed at the UN Ocean Conference, major profitable shipping companies such as MSC can no longer shy away from their responsibility in such disasters, whereas marine life is choking on plastic pellets and fishing communities are being starved out,” added Amruta s Nair, Campaigner at Greenpeace India.

In Solidarity, Greenpeace deployed a documentation team in Kerala straight after the disaster — and this past week the organization has run several activities with ocean stakeholders, youth groups, and fisherfolks to convey the same message across the region: “One Ocean, Many Lives” in Khulna, Bangladesh; Galle and Colombo, in Sri Lanka; Odisha and Chennai, in India.

“With these events to celebrate World Ocean Day, we also want to deliver a joint message of hope together with our partners across the region. We demand our leaders quickly ratify the global High Seas Treaty to protect 30% of our oceans [1], as well as listen to the voice of small-scale fishers and the wisdom of coastal communities for the sustainable management of coastal resources and bottom-up profits to the local economies,” says Anita Perera, Campaigner at Greenpeace South Asia.