The MV X-Press Pearl, a Singapore-registered cargo ship had left the port of Hazira in Gujarat, India on May 15 and was en route to its country of registration via Colombo.
NationofChange
Plastic pellet spill from burning ship causes âworst beach pollutionâ in Sri Lankaâs history
âNo one is able to say how long we will have the adverse effects of this pollution.â
A chemical-laden ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka Wednesday, after burning for nearly two weeks.
The accident has already led to one of the worst marine disasters in the country’s history, as tons of plastic pellets from the burning ship have already contaminated its fishing waters and washed up on its shores, Reuters reported.
“This is probably the worst beach pollution in our history,” Sri Lanka’s Marine Protection Authority (MEPA) chairman Dharshani Lahandapura told AFP.
Sri Lanka faces an unprecedented pollution crisis as waves of plastic waste from a burning container ship hit the coast and threaten to devastate the local environment, a top environment official warned on May 29.