The burned container ships that have caused the worst Sri Lankan maritime environment sank on Wednesday with several hundred tons of oil still in the fuel tank, the Navy said. MV X-Press Pearl, carrying hundreds of tons of chemicals and plastic, burned for 13 days in seeing the island’s coast before rescue workers finally managed to extinguish the fire on Tuesday.
Much plastic debris has flooded the coast. The authorities are now afraid of disasters that are even more significant must be 278 tons of bunker oil and 50 tons of gas in the Singapore ship fuel tank registered in the Indian Ocean.
When delaying on Wednesday began trying to pull the ship further into the sea, Indika Naval spokesman De Silva said it was slowly sinking. “Batti ships are under water, the surface of the water is on the deck,” De Silva said.
“The ship goes down.”
Some oils have been seen near the coast of Negombo, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Colombo, the AFP photographer said, although it was not clear whether it was from a ship hit.
De Silva said the Navy helped the Dutch rescue company board the ship and set a crane connection after several unsuccessful efforts due to bad weather. “The ship will be drawn further from the beach maybe before going down completely,” he added.
Minister of Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekera Tweeted that the rescue company involved in the operation “has indicated that the ship sank at the current location”. An official involved in mitigation efforts said earlier that local experts were afraid of the ship unstable.
“The efforts of the fire department also saw a lot of water sprayed to the deck. Lots of water had settled in the stern,” the official told AFP.
Oil disaster
Officials have planned to pump water contaminated from the ship to the barge, but the operation has been abandoned. The Navy said the Indian coast guard ships in the area have the equipment to handle neat oil if necessary.
The inundation of micro granules from the ship’s container has forced a ban on fishing and encourage concern for wildlife and the environment. Officials believe the flames destroyed most of almost 1,500 containers on board.
The head of the Marine Protection Authority of Dharshani Lahandapura said he still assessed ecological damage, but he believed it was “worst in my life”.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked Australia to help evaluate ecological damage on the island, one of the most diverse bio-diverse countries in South Asia. Sri Lanka has launched a criminal investigation.
The authorities believe that the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak which seemed to know from May 11, nine days before the Blaze began.
The police said that the captain and head of the engineer. Both Russians, and the third officer, had been questioned. The court has booked Tuesday to confiscate a passport of the three pending investigations. The ship headed to Colombo from Gujarat, India when Blaze began visiting Qatar and Dubai, where containers were 25 tons of nitrate acid loaded.