Sri Lanka

Disaster feared as chemical cargo ship sinks off Sri Lanka

cde.news desk 2 June 2021, 12:30 · 1 min read

Smoke rises from the fire gutted and crippled container cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl in Sri Lanka, 02 June 2021. The fire on the Singaporean flagged container cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl, which had been burning for over 13 days, was doused and the salvage company began towing it towards deeper seas off the coast of Colombo on 02 June. However, latest reports by the Sri Lanka Navy stated that the towing operation had been halted as the stern of the ship was striking the seabed. They also reported that so far no oil spills have been observed. A huge amount of plastic granules and debris has already washed ashore on beaches from Colombo to Negombo and authorities now fear another wave of massive pollution should the 278 tonnes of bunker oil and 50 tonnes of gas in the Singapore-registered ship's fuel tanks leak into the Indian Ocean. EPA-EFE/CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE

A cargo ship carrying tonnes of chemicals is sinking off Sri Lanka’s west coast, the country’s government and navy said on Wednesday, in one of Sri Lanka’s worst-ever marine disasters.

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored off the island’s west coast when a fire erupted on May 20.

Authorities have been battling the blaze since then, as flaming containers laden with chemicals have fallen from the ship’s deck, the navy said last month.

Tonnes of plastic pellets have swamped the island’s coastline and rich fishing grounds, creating one of the biggest environmental crises in decades, experts say.

“The salvage company involved in the X-Press Pearl has indicated that the vessel is sinking at the current position,” fisheries minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet.

The government has banned fishing along an 80-kilometre stretch of coastline, affecting 5,600 fishing boats, while hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to clean the beach.

A salvage crew is towing the vessel to deeper water, Wijesekera added.

Photo: Smoke rises from the fire gutted and crippled container cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl in Sri Lanka, . EPA-EFE/CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE