“Siren’s tears” and spill: the double environmental disaster that threatens Sri Lanka

COLOMBO.- The Container ship devastated by fire for 13 days in front of Colombo he sank this wednesday with several hundreds of tons of oil in their deposits, which raises fears that the ecological disaster that has already caused off Sri Lanka.

“The ship is at imminent risk of sinking”Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson Indika de Silva said hours after the Singapore-registered “MV X-Press Pearl” began towing off the coast of Colombo.

Experts from the Dutch rescue company Smit stopped trying to get the 31,600-ton ship off the Sri Lankan coast on Wednesday, Navy spokeswoman Indika de Silva told AFP. The stern has hit bottom, 22 meters deep and 11 kilometers from Pamunugama, the nearest coast and north of the capital Colombo, according to the spokesperson.

“The bow is still floating, but the stern is submerged and has bottomed out,” he said. For this reason, “the vessel’s towing operation has been stopped”.

We could see a layer of oil near Negombo beach, a very touristy place on the island, about 40 km from Colombo. There is currently no indication of a fuel leak, according to Dan Gunasekera, a lawyer specializing in international shipping, who believes divers will undoubtedly be needed to extract the fuel from the vessel.

The fire aboard the ship broke out as it was about to enter Colombo port on May 20., and was only closed on Tuesday after 13 days of international efforts, with the help of the Indian Coast Guard and the Dutch company Smit, in charge of towing tasks.

Risk of an oil spill

The Sri Lankan Navy helped Smit’s experts board the ship early Wednesday to begin the towing operation, after several unsuccessful attempts overnight due to bad weather. “The ship will be towed as far from shore as possible before it sinks completely,” the spokesperson said.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered their removal in order to minimize potential damage to the island’s coasts.

“The salvage company (Smit) involved in the #XPressPearl operation has indicated that the vessel is sinking where it is now,” tweeted Fisheries Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

The ship was carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other chemicals, as well as 28 containers of plastic raw materials, most of which fell overboard.

Tons of small plastic granules (called “mermaid’s tears”), coming from the loading of the “MV X-Press Pearl”, already they covered some 80 kilometers of coastline in the west of the island, in what constitutes the worst ecological disaster in Sri Lanka’s history.

A possible oil spill would worsen the situation, because The vessel was carrying 278 tonnes of fuel in storage and 50 tonnes of diesel in its tanks.

According to the Sri Lankan Navy, an Indian Coast Guard vessel in the area is equipped with the necessary equipment to deal with any oil spill.

The authorities, who had planned to extract the contaminated water from the ship in an operation that was to last three days, finally decided to abandon it due to lack of time.

Ecological damage is being assessedAccording to the president of the Marine Environment Protection Authority, Dharshani Lahandapura, who said it was the worst she had seen in the country which is home to one of the richest biodiversity in South Asia.

Sri Lanka has launched a criminal investigation into the fire and contamination. Authorities believe the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak observed by the crew since May 11, long before the ship entered Sri Lankan waters. Then he had to continue his journey to Malaysia and Singapore.

The three main crew members, including the captain and chief engineer, both Russian, will have to remain on the island throughout the investigation, police said. Their passports were confiscated on Tuesday by order of a court.

In September 2020, the oil tanker “New Diamond” burned for a week off the east coast of Sri Lanka after an explosion in the engine room that killed a crew member, causing an oil spill 40 kilometers long. . Sri Lanka demanded $ 17 million from the shipowners to pay for the cleanup costs.

AFP Agency

THE NATION

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