Sri Lanka braces for environmental disaster as ship sinks

Colombo - MV X-Press Pearl started sinking a day after authorities extinguished a fire that raged on for 12 days.

Authorities in Sri Lanka were trying to head off a potential environmental disaster on Thursday as a fire-damaged container ship that had been carrying chemicals was sinking off the country’s main port.

The Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl started sinking on Wednesday, a day after authorities extinguished a fire that raged on the vessel for 12 days. Efforts to tow the ship into deeper waters away from the port in Colombo failed after the ship’s stern became submerged and rested on the seabed.

The ship’s operators, X-Press Feeders, say the fire destroyed most of the ship’s cargo, which included 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other chemicals. But there are fears that remaining chemicals as well as hundreds of tonnes of oil from the vessel’s fuel tanks could leak into the sea.

Such a disaster could devastate marine life and further pollute the island nation’s famed beaches. The disaster has already caused debris — including several tonnes of plastic pellets used to make plastic bags — to wash a ashore.

The government already has banned fishing along about 80 kilometres of coastline.

The ship operator said on Thursday that the vessel’s stern was resting on the seabed about 21 metres below the surface and the ship’s bow was “settling down slowly”. It said salvage experts were remaining with the vessel “to monitor the ship’s condition and oil pollution”.

The company said its experts were coordinating with Sri Lanka’s navy to deal with an oil spill or other pollution.

Sri Lankan navy spokesman Indika de Silva said the navy and coast guard were preparing for a spill with assistance from neighbouring India. India has sent three ships to help, including one specifically equipped to deal with marine pollution.

Colombo port’s harbour master, Nirmal Silva, said there had been about 300 tonnes of oil on board and that experts believe it could have burned off in the fire.

“But we have to look at the worst-case scenario and we are not saying 100 per cent there is no oil. There is a possibility that there may be some,” Silva said. “So far we have not seen any oil spill. We consider we are lucky.”

A ship manifest described the X-Press Pearl as carrying just under 1,500 containers, with 81 of those containers described as carrying “dangerous” goods.

“If this disaster happened due to negligence, then those responsible should be punished,” he said.