brand logo

Sri Lanka seeks criminal damages from burning ship

28 May 2021

  • 42 km of western coastline contaminated: MEPA

  • Queries how many plastic pellets now in sea and shore 

  • Plastic pellets are primary microplastics: Environmentalists 

  • Major impact on fishing industry, marine life: Pearl Protectors

By Pamodi Waravita   The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has filed a complaint with the Colombo Sea Port Police regarding the MV X-Press Pearl ship, which at the time of writing was still engulfed in flames, as it hopes to obtain criminal liability-related damages from the vessel for the environmental damages it has caused to the western coastline of Sri Lanka. “There have been three containers of plastic pellets onboard the ship, each weighing 26,000 metric tonnes (MT). However, we do not know if all of that has made its way into the water and the shore. The plastic pellets have to further break down to be considered microplastics,” said MEPA officials speaking to The Morning yesterday (27). Accordingly, the MEPA has already begun clean-up activities in 12 sites and has calculated that approximately 42 kilometres of the coastline have been contaminated. Commenting on the potential harm to the fisheries industry, as fish could ingest the harmful plastic pellets, the MEPA said that there is a temporary ban imposed on fishing in the Negombo fishing area, adding that they have to assess when it would be safe to resume fishing activities in these waters. Although the authorities have been preparing for an oil spill from the burning vessel, which carries 300 MT of bunker oil, as of last evening, there has been no report of a spill. However, speaking to The Morning, The Pearl Protectors Co-ordinator Muditha Katuwawala said that the environmental harm caused by plastic pellets or “nurdles” is akin to an oil spill. Citing the case of Hong Kong in 2012, when a large container spilled plastic pellets into the ocean, Katuwawala said that the environmental damage caused still remains, even nine years later. Katuwawala requested the public to not open any containers as if they are carrying the plastic pellets, it is important to ensure that there are no further spills on the beach. “Plastic pellets are a type of primary microplastics. These are the building blocks of any plastic item. When they get released into the marine environment, sea birds, turtles, and fish eat it. Since the fish feel unnaturally full after ingesting pellets, they do not eat real food and hence starve to death,” The Pearl Protectors Advocacy Co-ordinator Maleesha Gunawardana told The Morning. Gunawardana further said that once the plastic pellets are in any waterway, they absorb any harmful chemicals like sponges and thus become more toxic. “When these chemicals enter the bodies of fish, they leech into them and bioaccumulates and biomagnifies throughout the food chain. These toxins pass through the food chain. Thus, this does significantly impact our fisheries industry,” added Gunawardana.  Gunawardana also said that five species of sea turtles that come to our beaches to nest would likely be affected as the plastic pellets on the sand could affect its properties such as permeability. The MV X-Press Pearl came to Sri Lankan waters on 20 May, which was when a fire was reported onboard the ship. The condition worsened on 25 May, when an explosion caused 10 containers to fall into the ocean, and a massive amount of debris to wash up on the western coast. The fire is still burning, although the authorities reported a significant reduction as of last evening.


More News..