Fears of a major ecological disaster off the coast of Sri Lanka mount as cargo ship sinks

• A major environmental disaster continues to unfold off the west coast of Sri Lanka as a stricken cargo ship sinks
• The MV X-Press Pearl was carrying 1486 containers with hundreds of tonnes of chemicals and plastics when it suddenly caught fire last month
• Authorities spent two weeks battling the blaze as tonnes of plastic containers fouled the surrounding waters, with the fire finally extinguished on Tuesday
• A salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water and away from the coast, but the vessel was already sinking — with almost 300 tonnes of bunker oil and 50 tonnes of gas still in its fuel tanks
• Sri Lanka’s Minister for Fisheries, Kanachana Wijesekera, said the country’s Marine Environment Protection Authority is now preparing for an oil spill
• He said a contingency plan is already in place to minimise damage and clean the beaches affected by the disaster
• The Sri Lankan government has banned fishing along an 80-kilometre stretch of coastline, with around 5600 fishing boats unable to work

A major environmental disaster continues to unfold off the west coast of Sri Lanka as a stricken cargo ship sinks.

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl container ship was carrying hundreds of tonnes of chemicals and plastics when it suddenly caught fire last month.

Authorities spent almost two weeks battling the blaze until they finally managed to extinguish the fire on Tuesday this week — although it seems it might be too late.

The ship was carrying 1486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals. Tonnes of plastic pellets have already fouled the rich fishing waters in the region in one of the worst ecological disasters in Sri Lanka’s history.

Now, with almost 300 tonnes of bunker oil and 50 tonnes of gas still in its fuel tanks, the ship is sinking.

After the blaze was extinguished, a salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water and away from the coast. However, Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Captain Indika de Silva said on Wednesday the ship’s stern was already underwater.

“The tern of the ship is underwater. The water level is above the deck,” Captain de Silva said.

“The ship is going down.”

According to a report from Reuters, Captain de Silva later confirmed that efforts to tow the ship have been abandoned after a portion of the ship hit the seabed, just 22 metres below the water’s surface.

Footage taken by the Sri Lankan Air Force shows white smoked pluming from the vessel, with whole sections the X-Press Pearl already underwater.

Situation Update: Latest videos of the “X-PRESS PEARL” vessel. Footage was captured by the SLAF Bell 212 a short while ago (02 June 2021).#MVXPressPearl pic.twitter.com/4GznxCTuXy

— Sri Lanka Air Force (@airforcelk) June 2, 2021

Sri Lankan Minister for Fisheries Kanachana Wijesekera said the country’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) is now preparing for the case of an oil spill as the ship goes down, with a contingency plan already in place to minimise damage.

“Booms and skimmers will be used around the vessel and strategic locations, spray to be used to disperse Oil Slick,” Minister Wijesekera said on Twitter.

Booms are large floating barriers that can be used to contain any spilt oil to a specific area, while skimmers suck water through a filtration system before releasing it back into the ocean.

The Sri Lankan government has banned fishing along an 80-kilometre stretch of coastline as it deals with the ecological disaster, with around 5600 fishing boats unable to work. Soldiers have been deployed to begin cleaning up the beaches in the area.