A cargo ship carrying chemicals caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this month, leaving an environmental disaster in its wake that the island will have to deal with for decades. It burned for days off the coast of Sri Lanka, producing plumes of dense dark smoke visible from kilometers away.
The X-Press Pearl, however, is now silent, sitting half-submerged off the coast of Sri Lanka, its hull resting on the shallow seabed. Even though the flames have been extinguished, the challenges have only just begun.
Onboard the ship, there are still towers of containers stacked on top of each other, many of which contain environmentally hazardous chemicals; some of them have already seeped into the ocean, raising concerns that it may poison marine life.
Moreover, hundreds of thousands of small plastic pellets have already washed up on surrounding beaches. There are also hundreds of tonnes of engine fuel trapped in the sinking hull, which could leak into the water.
Aside from the environmental dangers, there are also terrible effects for local communities, including fishermen who have lost their livelihoods overnight and will likely suffer for years. “We are part-time fishermen who go out to sea to make money; else, our entire family will go hungry “Denish Rodrigo, a local fisherman.
The Singapore-registered ship was nine nautical miles off the Sri Lankan coast when it caught fire on May 20 while travelling from Gujarat, India, to Colombo. The Sri Lankan Navy and Indian Coast Guard worked for 12 days to put out the fires and prevent the ship from splitting apart or sinking.
Fishing in the area was halted, and environmentalists warned that the plastic and chemical pollution could endanger birds and marine life.
Local fishermen said the plastic pollution, which continues to migrate southwards with the current, had wrecked their livelihoods.
The ship’s operator, X-Press Feeders, claimed in a recent statement that the ship’s rear remained on the seabed 21 meters (69 feet) below the surface and that the stern is “afloat and reported as stable.” The ship’s operator did not say what the grey sheen was, but stated “discoloration of the sea has been obvious since the vessel’s stern became buried” and the remaining cargo was exposed to water.
