Pollution fears as container ship starts sinking near Sri Lankan beach after fire
28 May 2021
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Sri Lanka’s apex environment body on Thursday said the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel, MV X-Press Pearl, which caught fire near the Negombo tourist beach, 40 km north of Colombo beach, last week, is in the process of sinking, and that preparations are underway to tackle the resulting oil spill.
Indian Coast Guard Ships Vaibhav and Vajra along have been helping Sri Lankan authorities to douse the intense fire onboard container vessel MV X-Press Pearl off Colombo. ICG Dornier aircraft has undertaken air reconnaissance of the area for assessment and support.
ICG ship Samudra Prahari, a specialised Pollution Response (PR) vessel has also been despatched in PR configuration to augment the firefighting efforts and respond to oil spill, if occurred. ICG deployed its assets in response to request of Sri Lankan authorities and Govt of India directives thereon.
A Singapore-flagged cargo vessel, MV 'X-Press Pearl', loaded with about 25 tonnes of hazardous nitric acid and 325 metric tonnes of fuel in its tank, caught fire 9.5 nautical miles away from Colombo Port.
Sri Lanka’s airforce used helicopters to drop about 425 kg of fire retardant chemicals on the ship on Wednesday. Dharshani Lahandapura from the Marine Environment Protection Authority said containment measures were being prepared in case chemicals or fuel oil are spilled from the ship’s engine and fuel tanks.
The distressed vessel MV X-Press Pearl was carrying 1,486 containers with nitric acid and other hazardous IMDG code chemicals. The extreme fire, damage to containers and prevailing inclement weather has caused the vessel to tilt to one side resulting in falling of containers overboard. While concerted joint efforts by two ICG Ships and four tugs of Sri Lankan authorities have largely helped to douse the fire, the problem of the inking vessel polluting the seas remains.
ICG ship Vajra had entered Colombo port on the evening of 26 May and handed over 4,500 litres of AFFF compound and 450 kg Dry Chemical Powder to Sri Lankan authorities before rejoining the fire-fighting operations early on Thursday.
ICG formations at Kochi, Chennai and Tuticorin are on standby for immediate assistance towards pollution response. Continuous coordination is being maintained with Sri Lankan Coast Guard and other Sri Lankan authorities for augmenting the overall response operations towards containing the fire onboard MV X-Press Pearl, a shipping ministry release stated.
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