Fears of environmental disaster as oil-laden ship sinks off Sri Lanka

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – A chemical-laden cargo ship is sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka, sparking fears of an environmental disaster.

The Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl had been on fire for almost two weeks before the blaze was put out this week.

Hundreds of tonnes of oil from fuel tanks could leak into the sea, devastating nearby marine life.

The Sri Lankan and Indian navies had worked jointly over the past days in an attempt to put out the fire and prevent the ship from breaking up and sinking.

But rough seas and monsoonal winds hampered the operation, just outside the port of Colombo.

On Wednesday, salvage experts tried to tow the wreck into deeper water to minimise the pollution risk to the coastline. But the back section hit the seabed and the operation was abandoned.

The ship’s operators, X-Press Feeders, said on Thursday that the “aft portion is sitting on the seabed at a depth of about 21m (69ft), and the forward section is settling down slowly”.