Sri Lanka ship fire causes significant damage, says UN office
20 June, 2021
The US representative in Sri Lanka said the sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off the administrative centre Colombo has caused “a significant damage to the earth” by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem.
The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl sank off on Thursday (Jun 17), per month after catching fire, raising concerns about a possible environmental disaster.
The UN said it had been coordinating international efforts and helping Sri Lanka in assessing the damage, recovery efforts and stopping such disasters in the future.
“An environmental emergency of the nature causes significant harm to the earth by the release of hazardous substances in to the ecosystem,” UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said in a statement late Saturday.
"Therefore threatens lives and livelihoods of the populace in the coastal areas.”
A UN team of oil spill and chemical experts- supplied by the European Union- has been delivered to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has recently submitted an interim claim of US$40 million to X-Press Feeders to cover part of the cost of fighting the fire, which broke from May 20 when the vessel was anchored about 9.5 nautical miles (18km) northwest of Colombo and waiting to enter the port.
The Sri Lankan navy believes the blaze was caused by its chemical cargo, including 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals, almost all of which were destroyed in the fire. But debris including burned fiberglass and a great deal of plastic pellets have previously polluted nearby beaches.
A ship manifest seen by The Associated Press said the ship carrying just under 1,500 containers, with 81 of these described as “dangerous” goods.
The primary concern has been about 300 a great deal of bunker oil used as fuel for the ship. But officials have already been saying it might have burned up in the fire.
Both Sri Lankan authorities and the ship’s operator, X-Press Feeders, have said up to now there is absolutely no sign of an oil spill.
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