A cargo ship carrying tonnes of chemicals is sinking off after nearly two weeks ablaze off the west coast of Sri Lanka, said officials on Wednesday, fuelling severe environmental concerns as the container ship still has several hundred tonnes of oil in its fuel tanks.
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored off when a fire erupted onboard after an explosion on May 20.
Situation Update: Latest pictures of the “X-PRESS PEARL” vessel. Footage was captured by the SLAF Bell 212 a short while ago (02 June 2021).#MVXPressPearl pic.twitter.com/KsmlOtVfPn
— Sri Lanka Air Force (@airforcelk) June 2, 2021
The government has banned fishing, a crucial economic industry, along about 50 miles of coast in the wake of the incident. Authorities have also deployed hundreds of soldiers to clean affected beaches and warned residents not to touch the debris because it could be contaminated with harmful chemicals.