Fire-stricken ship with chemicals sinks off Sri Lanka’s coast: Govt
COLOMBO: A cargo ship carrying tonnes of chemicals sank off Sri Lanka’s west coast, its navy said on Wednesday, and tonnes of plastic pellets fouled the country’s rich fishing waters in one of its worst-ever marine disasters.
The government on Wednesday suspended fishing along an 80-km (50-mile) stretch of the island’s coastline and hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to clean affected beaches.
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 Sri Lanka’s west coast when a fire erupted after an explosion on May 20.
The craft began to sink early on Wednesday, and a salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water away from the coast, fisheries minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet.
“The towing of the ship was stopped due to the rear end of the vessel hitting the sea bed,” navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told Reuters.