By Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, CNN
For almost two weeks, a thick, black smudge stained the sky off Sri Lanka’s western coast smoke from a burning container ship nine nautical miles out to sea.
The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl caught fire on May 20 en route to Colombo carrying 350 metric tons of oil in its tanks and at least 81 containers of “dangerous goods,” including nitric acid a highly toxic chemical used to make fertilizers.
As the Sri Lankan navy and coast guard teams fought to douse the flames, the inferno tore through the ship’s cargo, releasing a cocktail of hazardous chemicals into the air and sea, prompting authorities to issue a toxic rain alert, and compounding fears of an oil spill.
By Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, CNN
For almost two weeks, a thick, black smudge stained the sky off Sri Lanka’s western coast smoke from a burning container ship nine nautical miles out to sea.
The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl caught fire on May 20 en route to Colombo carrying 350 metric tons of oil in its tanks and at least 81 containers of “dangerous goods,” including nitric acid a highly toxic chemical used to make fertilizers.
As the Sri Lankan navy and coast guard teams fought to douse the flames, the inferno tore through the ship’s cargo, releasing a cocktail of hazardous chemicals into the air and sea, prompting authorities to issue a toxic rain alert, and compounding fears of an oil spill.
Sri Lanka’s Sweet Deal with China Underpins the Belt and Road Initiative
Colombo will serve as a potential foothold for expanding Chinese diplomatic and military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill came into force in Sri Lanka on May 27, 2021. The bill lays out the country’s legal framework regarding a flagship project scheduled to transform the seafront of its bustling capital city into a new port. Many have speculated that this plan will pave the way for the island nation strategically located at the crossroads of major shipping routes to South Asia, the Far East, Europe and America to blossom into the next Singapore or Dubai.
Hundreds of dead turtles continue to wash ashore in Sri Lanka, almost two months after a newly built container ship caught fire while anchored off Colombo’s port.
The X-Press Pearl was carrying 1,486 containers and burned for two weeks. It then sunk in early June, causing one of Sri Lanka’s greatest environmental disasters.
Chemicals contaminated waters, killing marine life and destroying breeding grounds. The contaminants include nitric acid, sodium dioxide, copper and lead, and tonnes of plastic nurdles (pellets) which can take centuries to decompose.
Local communities entirely dependent on fishing for their livelihoods have been ordered not to fish. Now, the environment faces the threat of an oil spill, which authorities, with international assistance, are desperately trying to contain.
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