Sri Lanka Giving Best Effort
- 04-Jun-2021
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Sri Lankan authorities using all resources to stop oil spill from gutted cargo ship. Sri Lankan authorities are pooling all resources to stop a possible oil spill from the partially sunk Singapore-flagged fire-stricken cargo ship, officials said on Friday.
Sri Lankan Navy, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the Indian Coast Guard were all working to detect and stop any possible oil leak from the ship, they said.
The ship 'X-Press Pearl' still remains half submerged, with the aft section getting stuck in the shallow bottom, 21 meters deep, officials said.
Captain Indika de Silva, the Sri Lankan Navy spokesman, on Wednesday said the ship could be towed only for a few hundred meters when it hit the sea bed. The ship's stern had settled on the bottom while the bow was floating.
The operations team said it was not still clear if the 300 tonnes of bunker oil which was on board had been affected after it was engulfed in flames since May 21.
The cargo vessel, carrying a consignment of chemicals and raw materials for cosmetics from Hazira in Gujarat caught fire on May 20 in Sri Lankan waters outside the port of Colombo.
All 25 crew members of the ship -- of Indian, Chinese, Filipino and Russian nationality -- were rescued on May 21.
