Sri Lanka braces for oil spill from sunken cargo ship netscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from netscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Environmental disaster : Sri Lanka braces for oil spill from sunken cargo ship Reuters
Thursday, June 3rd 2021, 8:56 am - This is considered to be the country s worst ever man-made environmental disaster.
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from a fire onboard the MV X-Press Pearl vessel as it sinks while being towed into deep sea off the Colombo Harbour, in Sri Lanka June 2, 2021. Sri Lanka Airforce Media/Handout via REUTERS
By Alasdair Pal and Waruna Karunatilake
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Thursday braced for the possibility of an oil spill after a cargo ship laden with chemicals sank off its western coast, in what is already the country s worst ever man-made environmental disaster.
Authorities in Sri Lanka were trying to head off a potential environmental disaster Thursday as a fire-damaged container ship that had been carrying chemicals.
The government already has banned fishing along about 80 kilometers (50 miles) of coastline.
The ship operator said Thursday that the vessel s stern was resting on the seabed about 21 meters (70 feet) below the surface and the ship s bow was settling down slowly.” It said salvage experts were remaining with the vessel “to monitor the ship s condition and oil pollution.”
The company said its experts were coordinating with Sri Lanka s navy to deal with an oil spill or other pollution.
Sri Lankan navy spokesman Indika de Silva said the navy and coast guard were preparing for a spill with assistance from neighboring India. India has sent three ships to help, including one specifically equipped to deal with marine pollution.
Sri Lanka faces environmental threat from ship - World News sina.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sina.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.