By Chathuranga Dharmarathne
[caption id="attachment_142746" align="alignleft" width="234"]
University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Zoology Head Prof. Dharshani Mahaulpatha[/caption]
Nowadays, shipping accidents have become more and more environmental and their results are crucial for all parties in terms of human lives, marine environment, trading, and financial losses. Recently, the Sri Lankan coast faced one of the most devastating tragedies that have impacted the island’s whole coastal environment. X-Press Pearl was a Singapore-registered Super Eco 2700–class container ship and It was operated by X-Press Feeders. On 20 May 2021, X-Press Pearl caught fire off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. After burning for 12 days, the vessel sank on 2 June as it was being towed away to deeper waters which would trigger adverse effects to the marine species, but it has not sunk fully because it is touching a coral bed. Because of the chemical compounds that leaked, the incident was considered the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history. The busy East-West shipping route passes six to 10 nautical miles south of the country. More than 60,000 ships ply this route annually carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half its container shipments. Although there are thousands of ships passing by Sri Lanka every day, major ship accidents are rare. However, the fire on X-Press Pearl is the second accident during the last 10 months.
Marine accidents are caused by exposure to marine environment hazards, which can occur at sea or ports and can be safeguarded by a maritime security policy. Marine accidents adversely affect humans, the marine environment, properties, and activities aboard ships and ashore in various forms and varying degrees. The marine environment is marine space along with fauna and flora, water resources, the ultimate surface of the sea and its subsoil, including the coastal line, beaches, ports, lanes and their land territories, lagoons, river estuaries, water line lakes, communicating with the sea. It is a non-transferable state asset whose management is overseen by state agencies. No one else has the authority to permit or prohibit the use of the marine environment. Economic, commercial, scientific, social, sports, tourist, and military activities all use and exploit the marine environment. This environment may be used by state bodies, legal and natural persons, domestic or foreign, only under the conditions provided by law.
However, in this incident above, the container vessel, which carried 1,486 containers, with contents including 25 tonnes of highly corrosive nitric acid which can be used in the manufacture of fertilisers and explosives with other chemicals including nitric acid, ethanol, lead ingots, dust urea, frilled urea, epoxy resins (349 containers), sodium methoxide, caustic soda (42 containers), aluminium processing byproducts, raw materials for cosmetics, and high density and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets. The ship also had 300 tonnes of bunker oil. The release of chemicals from the ship's sinking poses a significant threat to the ocean and coastal ecology.
Also, out of the 1,486 containers, 81 of those were regarded as toxic harmful dangerous containers inclusive of five tonnes of nitric acid. The ship was carrying multiple classes of dangerous goods including sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in holds as well as at least one container of nitric acid which was leaking on deck. Health experts and government officials have also cautioned that moderate acid rains could occur in Sri Lanka as a result of nitrogen dioxide emissions. Because nitric acid is a highly corrosive chemical, it will harm corals and marine life. It’s a highly toxic acid.
The ship was carrying three canisters of plastic pellets, each weighing 26,000 kilos, according to authorities. Plastic resin pellet pollution from spilt cargo was washing up on Sri Lanka’s beaches. LDPE pellets have also been washed onto nearby land. After the ship exploded, calamity struck in the form of little white plastic pellets that blanketed nearly a third of the shoreline from Galle to Kalpitiya.
[caption id="attachment_142745" align="alignright" width="231"]
University of Sri Jayewardenepura marine biologist Ruvini Weerasinghe[/caption]
The pellets are low-density polyethylene plastic nurdles but plastic pellets spreading is the most disastrous impact we have seen so far. Pollution from the ship has already covered portions of Sri Lanka’s western coastline, including millions of plastic pellets used as the basic material for shopping bags. While cleaning operations may be able to remove half of the plastic beads, the remainder will remain mixed in the sand and coral beds, killing ocean life for many more years.
Dead fish and turtles have been washing up on Sri Lankan beaches, and their deaths are being investigated to see if they were caused by the leak. Plastic pellets have been found in the gills of dead fish washed up on the coastlines. They will continue to swallow the pellets, which will build up in their digestive tracts and pose a health risk to fish consumers. Even if the pellets are collected, a significant portion will be left behind; a complete beach cleanup is unattainable.
According to University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Zoology Head Prof. Dharshani Mahaulpatha, this may cause a severe loss of coastal biodiversity, like coral reefs, seagrass beds, estuaries, lagoons, and beaches where turtles regularly nest to make up the coastal belt. She also stated that since the sea around Sri Lanka provides a habitat for marine mammals like whales, dugongs, and dolphins, an oil spill would have dire consequences. She pointed out that if oil contaminates coastal areas, mangrove forests and other wetlands would absorb them and consequently these habitats may become unsuitable for wildlife. The detrimental effects would affect both aquatic and terrestrial animals, and it may take a considerable time for these ecosystems to recover.
Apart from that, it released a huge amount of toxic gas through the burning process. Plastics that have been burned are polluting the air. Heavy metals in the environment and the possibility of an oil spill, will wreak havoc. The degree of environmental damage has yet to be determined; however, the National Aquaculture Research Agency (NARA) and the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) will analyse the quality of seawater and plankton variety.
Not only did this tragedy have a direct impact on the western coast’s fishing community due to pollution fears. People are terrified of chemical poisoning, thus fishermen who are authorised to go fishing are unable to sell their catch. After the Government stopped fishing from Panadura to Negombo, tens of thousands of fishermen have lost their livelihoods. The accident has impacted the visual quality of the beach, which will last for years and have an influence on the tourism industry.
Polluters and responsible parties are required to pay for the damage they cause to the territorial sea and its ocean life, water quality, air quality, and other interests such as damage to livelihoods and fisheries, as well as the costs of emergency response, clean-up, and compensation to pollution victims, under the “polluter pays” principle. Several strategies can be used to face such incidents. Among all these circumstances, oil spills highly impact coastal biodiversity and ecology.
Evacuation strategy during oil spill is the execution of the clean-up method. People employ a variety of approaches to deal with such situations. The first option to consider when cleaning an oil spill is dispersant use. The second option to clean the spilt oil is in-situ burning. Although the oil burned satisfactorily, there was residual smoke from the oil burning. The third option is conducting mechanical recovery using skimmers. In terms of environmental considerations, this technology was chosen because mechanical recovery removes oil from the environment without posing any potential environmental problems from impurities such as additional chemicals. Marine birds and turtles were the worst affected by the oil disaster. Given the migration season of waterfowl and coastal birds, food poisoning could be a problem for these species during their stopover near the spilt oil.
According to University of Sri Jayewardenepura marine biologist Ruvini Weerasinghe, continuous observations are vital; she mentioned: “For now we have some knowledge about the chemical accumulation in organisms. So, timely surveys have to be done to collect the recurring effect. The ocean is a buffer solution, so it will recover eventually from acid contamination, for the plastic issues we have to establish surface perimeters to stop the spread with certain fishing and shipping restrictions. For the organisms to recover like corals we can reintroduce after some recovery time and isolate the critical areas for a few years.”
Our oceans are already contaminated with microplastics and pallets that lead to identifying microplastics in many beaches around the country. Therefore, the X-Press Pearl incident has aggravated the situation by adding a large amount to the ocean. Controlling the spread of plastics and removal from the environment is extremely difficult with the nature of the ocean currents, waves, and the wind. However, temporary floating barriers can be established to control the spread of plastic for a short period. That might allow a short window for the authorities and people who are working in the field to remove them. However, these interventions should be conducted according to the instructions of experts with good oceanographic knowledge to avoid further dispersal.
There might be some damages to the sessile marine organism in the area where the ship burned by either an abrupt change in pH or the temperature. We can facilitate the recovery by establishing a protective zone in that area and later re-introduce some species such as corals. Furthermore, these areas should be isolated to prevent disturbances to the recovering organism.
Most importantly, proper scientific studies should be conducted to estimate the short-term and long-term effects on the marine environment and organisms. Excluding the immediate measures such as establishing barriers to prevent potential oil spills, all the mitigating efforts should be followed after well-planned scientific assessments conducted by experts in the respective fields for a complete recovery. Our field observation from the Kalpitiya region indicates the plastic pellet situation and some bleached sponges on the beaches. Broken corals and sponges are common. Yet, bleaching is a less common sight on these broken pieces. It can be a result of sudden exposure to pH change or a temperature change.
We must restore the rich ecosystem linked with the maritime environment, including coral reefs, mangroves, and lagoons, which will exist for many years to come. More significantly, we must learn from the accident and make necessary changes to our emergency response system. Then we can reduce the impact and save our environment from these unnecessary hazards. Government authorities should be empowered with facilities and knowledge to face and overcome these circumstances with scientific supervision. Most importantly, the Government must promote marine and wildlife research to find the impacts of these incidents and take the necessary conservation measures to protect our coastal biodiversity and beautiful beaches of the island.
(The writer has a BSc, MPhil in Zoology at the Department of Zoology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka)
University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Zoology Head Prof. Dharshani Mahaulpatha[/caption]
Nowadays, shipping accidents have become more and more environmental and their results are crucial for all parties in terms of human lives, marine environment, trading, and financial losses. Recently, the Sri Lankan coast faced one of the most devastating tragedies that have impacted the island’s whole coastal environment. X-Press Pearl was a Singapore-registered Super Eco 2700–class container ship and It was operated by X-Press Feeders. On 20 May 2021, X-Press Pearl caught fire off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. After burning for 12 days, the vessel sank on 2 June as it was being towed away to deeper waters which would trigger adverse effects to the marine species, but it has not sunk fully because it is touching a coral bed. Because of the chemical compounds that leaked, the incident was considered the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history. The busy East-West shipping route passes six to 10 nautical miles south of the country. More than 60,000 ships ply this route annually carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half its container shipments. Although there are thousands of ships passing by Sri Lanka every day, major ship accidents are rare. However, the fire on X-Press Pearl is the second accident during the last 10 months.
Marine accidents are caused by exposure to marine environment hazards, which can occur at sea or ports and can be safeguarded by a maritime security policy. Marine accidents adversely affect humans, the marine environment, properties, and activities aboard ships and ashore in various forms and varying degrees. The marine environment is marine space along with fauna and flora, water resources, the ultimate surface of the sea and its subsoil, including the coastal line, beaches, ports, lanes and their land territories, lagoons, river estuaries, water line lakes, communicating with the sea. It is a non-transferable state asset whose management is overseen by state agencies. No one else has the authority to permit or prohibit the use of the marine environment. Economic, commercial, scientific, social, sports, tourist, and military activities all use and exploit the marine environment. This environment may be used by state bodies, legal and natural persons, domestic or foreign, only under the conditions provided by law.
However, in this incident above, the container vessel, which carried 1,486 containers, with contents including 25 tonnes of highly corrosive nitric acid which can be used in the manufacture of fertilisers and explosives with other chemicals including nitric acid, ethanol, lead ingots, dust urea, frilled urea, epoxy resins (349 containers), sodium methoxide, caustic soda (42 containers), aluminium processing byproducts, raw materials for cosmetics, and high density and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets. The ship also had 300 tonnes of bunker oil. The release of chemicals from the ship's sinking poses a significant threat to the ocean and coastal ecology.
Also, out of the 1,486 containers, 81 of those were regarded as toxic harmful dangerous containers inclusive of five tonnes of nitric acid. The ship was carrying multiple classes of dangerous goods including sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in holds as well as at least one container of nitric acid which was leaking on deck. Health experts and government officials have also cautioned that moderate acid rains could occur in Sri Lanka as a result of nitrogen dioxide emissions. Because nitric acid is a highly corrosive chemical, it will harm corals and marine life. It’s a highly toxic acid.
The ship was carrying three canisters of plastic pellets, each weighing 26,000 kilos, according to authorities. Plastic resin pellet pollution from spilt cargo was washing up on Sri Lanka’s beaches. LDPE pellets have also been washed onto nearby land. After the ship exploded, calamity struck in the form of little white plastic pellets that blanketed nearly a third of the shoreline from Galle to Kalpitiya.
[caption id="attachment_142745" align="alignright" width="231"] University of Sri Jayewardenepura marine biologist Ruvini Weerasinghe[/caption]
The pellets are low-density polyethylene plastic nurdles but plastic pellets spreading is the most disastrous impact we have seen so far. Pollution from the ship has already covered portions of Sri Lanka’s western coastline, including millions of plastic pellets used as the basic material for shopping bags. While cleaning operations may be able to remove half of the plastic beads, the remainder will remain mixed in the sand and coral beds, killing ocean life for many more years.
Dead fish and turtles have been washing up on Sri Lankan beaches, and their deaths are being investigated to see if they were caused by the leak. Plastic pellets have been found in the gills of dead fish washed up on the coastlines. They will continue to swallow the pellets, which will build up in their digestive tracts and pose a health risk to fish consumers. Even if the pellets are collected, a significant portion will be left behind; a complete beach cleanup is unattainable.
According to University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of Zoology Head Prof. Dharshani Mahaulpatha, this may cause a severe loss of coastal biodiversity, like coral reefs, seagrass beds, estuaries, lagoons, and beaches where turtles regularly nest to make up the coastal belt. She also stated that since the sea around Sri Lanka provides a habitat for marine mammals like whales, dugongs, and dolphins, an oil spill would have dire consequences. She pointed out that if oil contaminates coastal areas, mangrove forests and other wetlands would absorb them and consequently these habitats may become unsuitable for wildlife. The detrimental effects would affect both aquatic and terrestrial animals, and it may take a considerable time for these ecosystems to recover.
Apart from that, it released a huge amount of toxic gas through the burning process. Plastics that have been burned are polluting the air. Heavy metals in the environment and the possibility of an oil spill, will wreak havoc. The degree of environmental damage has yet to be determined; however, the National Aquaculture Research Agency (NARA) and the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) will analyse the quality of seawater and plankton variety.
Not only did this tragedy have a direct impact on the western coast’s fishing community due to pollution fears. People are terrified of chemical poisoning, thus fishermen who are authorised to go fishing are unable to sell their catch. After the Government stopped fishing from Panadura to Negombo, tens of thousands of fishermen have lost their livelihoods. The accident has impacted the visual quality of the beach, which will last for years and have an influence on the tourism industry.
Polluters and responsible parties are required to pay for the damage they cause to the territorial sea and its ocean life, water quality, air quality, and other interests such as damage to livelihoods and fisheries, as well as the costs of emergency response, clean-up, and compensation to pollution victims, under the “polluter pays” principle. Several strategies can be used to face such incidents. Among all these circumstances, oil spills highly impact coastal biodiversity and ecology.
Evacuation strategy during oil spill is the execution of the clean-up method. People employ a variety of approaches to deal with such situations. The first option to consider when cleaning an oil spill is dispersant use. The second option to clean the spilt oil is in-situ burning. Although the oil burned satisfactorily, there was residual smoke from the oil burning. The third option is conducting mechanical recovery using skimmers. In terms of environmental considerations, this technology was chosen because mechanical recovery removes oil from the environment without posing any potential environmental problems from impurities such as additional chemicals. Marine birds and turtles were the worst affected by the oil disaster. Given the migration season of waterfowl and coastal birds, food poisoning could be a problem for these species during their stopover near the spilt oil.
According to University of Sri Jayewardenepura marine biologist Ruvini Weerasinghe, continuous observations are vital; she mentioned: “For now we have some knowledge about the chemical accumulation in organisms. So, timely surveys have to be done to collect the recurring effect. The ocean is a buffer solution, so it will recover eventually from acid contamination, for the plastic issues we have to establish surface perimeters to stop the spread with certain fishing and shipping restrictions. For the organisms to recover like corals we can reintroduce after some recovery time and isolate the critical areas for a few years.”
Our oceans are already contaminated with microplastics and pallets that lead to identifying microplastics in many beaches around the country. Therefore, the X-Press Pearl incident has aggravated the situation by adding a large amount to the ocean. Controlling the spread of plastics and removal from the environment is extremely difficult with the nature of the ocean currents, waves, and the wind. However, temporary floating barriers can be established to control the spread of plastic for a short period. That might allow a short window for the authorities and people who are working in the field to remove them. However, these interventions should be conducted according to the instructions of experts with good oceanographic knowledge to avoid further dispersal.
There might be some damages to the sessile marine organism in the area where the ship burned by either an abrupt change in pH or the temperature. We can facilitate the recovery by establishing a protective zone in that area and later re-introduce some species such as corals. Furthermore, these areas should be isolated to prevent disturbances to the recovering organism.
Most importantly, proper scientific studies should be conducted to estimate the short-term and long-term effects on the marine environment and organisms. Excluding the immediate measures such as establishing barriers to prevent potential oil spills, all the mitigating efforts should be followed after well-planned scientific assessments conducted by experts in the respective fields for a complete recovery. Our field observation from the Kalpitiya region indicates the plastic pellet situation and some bleached sponges on the beaches. Broken corals and sponges are common. Yet, bleaching is a less common sight on these broken pieces. It can be a result of sudden exposure to pH change or a temperature change.
We must restore the rich ecosystem linked with the maritime environment, including coral reefs, mangroves, and lagoons, which will exist for many years to come. More significantly, we must learn from the accident and make necessary changes to our emergency response system. Then we can reduce the impact and save our environment from these unnecessary hazards. Government authorities should be empowered with facilities and knowledge to face and overcome these circumstances with scientific supervision. Most importantly, the Government must promote marine and wildlife research to find the impacts of these incidents and take the necessary conservation measures to protect our coastal biodiversity and beautiful beaches of the island.
(The writer has a BSc, MPhil in Zoology at the Department of Zoology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka)