Amarasinghe, Oscar (2022) The Rage of a perfect storm: Months after a container ship carrying toxic chemicals caught fire off the west coast of Sri Lanka, fisherfolk still suffer from the dreadful aftereffects of the country’s worst marine ecological disaster. Samudra Report (87). pp. 11-13. ISSN 0973 1121
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Abstract
A 186-m-long container ship called X-Press Pearl, registered in Singapore, arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on the night of 19 May 2021, carrying 1,486 containers. The next day, it was reported that the ship caught fire. At that time, it was located 9.5 nautical miles northwest of the Colombo port. Five days later, a large explosion occurred inside the vessel; by late afternoon, containers were dropping off the vessel into the sea. On 2 June, the ship finally sank. The incident was deemed the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history. The ship’s cargo included, among others, 12,085 metric tonnes (MT) of plastics and polymers, 8,252 MT of chemicals and 3,081 MT of metals. After the ship caught fire, its debris, burnt goods and plastic pellets washed ashore in large quantities. Dead fish, turtles, whales and dolphins were found along the western coast. Fish appeared with plastic pellets trapped in their gills. Initially noticed along the coast of Negombo, ship debris, and dead fish and turtles, washed up in other locations hundreds of kilometres to the north and south, indicating the widespread nature of the damage.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Class Number: | 920.SAM1293 |
| Keywords: | Samudra Report, ICSF, Sri Lanka, Disaster Management, Oil Spill, Chemicals, Commercial Vessels, Damages |
| Subjects: | Disasters and Climate Change |
| Depositing User: | Jeeva ICSF Rajan |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2022 11:31 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2022 11:31 |
| URI: | http://icsfarchives.net/id/eprint/16916 |
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