Ministers observe the removal of the wreckage of the X-Press Pearl vessel

February 18, Colombo: A group of ministers led by Minister of Ports and Shipping Rohitha Abeygunawardena visited the site of the wreck of the container ship X-Press Pearl which sank off Colombo last June after a fire massive on board.

The Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl carrying a cargo of hazardous chemicals caught fire on May 20, 2021 while at anchor 9.5nm off the port of Colombo due to a leak of chemicals in a container and burned for 13 days before the fire was extinguished. June 2. The ship and its dangerous cargo then sank.

The vessel was taken as far away from where it was as possible to avoid major environmental damage as there was a risk of containers with dangerous chemicals exploding.

Removal of the wreckage began last month after being delayed until the end of the southwest monsoon.

Ports and Shipping Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena said around 90% of the ship’s wreckage had already been removed.

“The X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank before it could be rescued. From then on, the government and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping worked together with other ministries to minimize the damage. We have seen many misinterpretations of the time of the fire. However, the government has taken steps since the incident to minimize possible harm to the environment and the fishing community,” the minister said.

Justice Minister Ali Sabry, who also joined the visit, said the ship was carrying around 1,500 containers at the time of the fire and that discussions with the ship’s owners had taken place to minimize the possibility new oil slicks.

“The removal of the debris was done in two stages. As part of the first stage, scattered containers and debris were removed. The second was to raise the sunken ship. The work of the moving company is very scientific and the government oversees the process. In addition, appropriate steps have already been taken to obtain the compensation due to us. Currently, the compensation received is around one billion rupees, but this is a very small amount. More compensation is needed. An Australian law firm specializing in this area was contacted for the assessment. We are preparing legal provisions to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.

Minister of State for Coastal Conservation and Lowland Development, Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva, said several committees had been appointed to look into the damage to fisheries, the environment and marine life caused by the the fire. He also said that based on the investigations, the estimated damage will be maximized.

Under the first phase, 15,000 fishermen in Gampaha, Colombo and Kalutara districts which have been designated as prohibited fishing areas have received Rs 420 million as compensation from the Shipping Insurance Company in 2021 and under of the second phase, an additional $1.75 million will be provided. as compensation from next week, said Kanchana Wijesekera, state minister for fisheries, freshwater fish and prawn farming, fishing port development and fish exports.

Vessel owners, X-Press Feeders engaged Shanghai Salvage Company to remove the wreckage. Two Company salvage vessels were deployed for the removal of the ship and 63 supports are used to lift the ship.

The ship is planned to be lifted in two parts. Ajith Seneviratne, director general of the Merchant Navy Secretariat, said the remaining ship is also expected to be dismantled and six racks have already been used for this purpose.