MV X-Press Pearl is a Singapore-registered container ship belonging to the Super Eco 2700 class. The ship was commissioned in February 2021 and was about 186 meters long. It was operated by the X-Press Feeders.

X-Press Pearl carried 1,486 containers, with substance counting 25 tons of nitric (which can be utilised within the make of composts and explosives), other chemicals, beauty care products and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets, when it left the harbour of Hazira on 15 May 2021, arriving off Colombo on 19 May. By 11 May the crew had discovered that a container loaded at Jebel Ali was leaking nitric acid, and had requested both Hamad and Hazira ports to allow it to be offloaded, but permission was not granted. According to X-Press Feeders, the requests were denied as there were no specialist facilities or expertise immediately available to deal with the leaking acid", and the vessel proceeded on its planned journey to Colombo.

The fire

It was reported that the ship caught fire on 20 May, 9.5 maritime miles (17.6 km; 10.9 mi) northwest of the Colombo Harbour. The Sri Lanka Navy, beside the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which boarded the transport in order to discover the cause of fire, suspected that the fire might have begun as a result of the response of chemicals being transported on the dispatch. Amid the fire occurrence, the vessel had a group of 25 individuals on board. On 25 May, an expansive blast was put inside the vessel and all 25 team individuals were rescued securely from the vessel.

Aftermath

On 2 June, salvors set up a line towing X-Press Pearl absent from the coast when the strict hit foot drove them to prematurely end the operation and it was detailed that the vessel had sunk.

Environmental damage

The environmental damage caused by this ship accident is yet in the process of being assessed. The great concern here is what will be the fate of the adjacent environment after this accident because according to the reports it says more than one third of the ship contained plastics, chemicals and dangerous goods. Here  81 containers were with dangerous goods including 25 metric tons of nitric acid. Scientists fear that as many chemicals in the cargo react with it can bring serious consequences to very delicate ecosystems. The damages can be from different aspects and it is difficult to tell what will happen exactly but it is evident that this is the worst marine disaster in the region. The formation of toxic algal blooms creating dead zones in the ocean and intoxicating marine life will be a major problem with the chemical components in the ship. Plastic nurdles gushing to the shores will affect the hatch-ability of marine turtles and beach resident marine creatures. The plastic nurdles are known to attract pollutants in the ocean and also harbour harmful microorganisms which can cause these toxins to travel across the food chains as many marine organisms feed on these tiny nurdles by mistake. Authorities believed more than 300 mt of oil including crude oil and gasoline were in the ship and there will be a huge oil pollution if an oil spill happens. It is evident that Sri Lanka does not have the capacity to fight such an oil spill alone and the consequences will be immense but by now the amount of oil in the sinking ship is debatable and the preparations for a spill are also in a preliminary condition. As a conclusion there will be more marine carcasess gushing into our oceans and in the long run the future populations of these species will face dramatic declines in numbers. 

Economic impact

Local fishers have been ordered to avoid fishing in the affected area where thousands of families are left without daily wages that keep them alive. The immense destruction this has caused is the fish recruitments will be definitely affected thereby reducing the catch in coming years. The tourist attraction beaches that gained millions of dollars annually have been covered with toxic debris and daily cleanup costs millions for the authorities.The cleanup operations should be stretched close to 200 km of Sri Lanka’s North Western to South coastline. Things have been more difficult and costly to clean up as workers have to wear personal protection equipment full time due to the CoVid situation as well as toxic chemical debris. The Marine Environment Protection Authority of Sri Lanka (MEPA),Sri Lanka’s tri-forces and volunteer groups has collected over 1,000 tonnes of debris from the beaches and there are more gushing into the beaches. 

The problem with transparency

The bodies of dead marine creatures and the wreckage of the ship, including plastic pallets, are now coming to the west coast of Sri Lanka. But there is a problem with the transparency and quickness of research into the death of these marine life.

At the same time, there is growing social unrest over the transparency of investigation and the administration of justice on the ship's fire and the environmental damage caused by it.

What do we demand?

• To expedite the recycling of plastic pellets, nurdles and other debris from the MV X-Press Pearl ship in an environmentally friendly manner or to re-export the waste.
• Accelerate and strengthen legal action against X-Express Pearl fire and demanding justice for the victims of this incident.
• Accelerate research on dying marine life. Ensuring the survival of marine life in the area where the ship sank and conducting systematic studies on future environmental damage and applying sustainable solutions to them.
• Compensation for losses incurred to fishermen and the fishing industry in the affected areas.
• Continuing to assess the potential health impacts to the public by appointing an expert committee as the chemical impact of the ship will last for a period of time.
• Improving maritime security and formulating a national policy for successful and expeditious response to any type of maritime disaster.
• To formulate guidelines, ratify relevant agreements and take steps to ratify relevant international conventions to address these types of situations.

Every day the bodies of dead dolphins, turtles and other marine creatures are coming to the west coast of Sri Lanka. Justice must be done for those deaths.We need to be a voice for the voiceless victims. Support the fulfilment of justice by signing this petition.