Burnt-out Container Ship Sinking Off Sri Lanka By Amal JAYASINGHE 06/02/21 AT 8:46 AM A burnt-out container ship that has already caused Sri Lanka's worst maritime environmental disaster was sinking Wednesday with nearly 350 tonnes of oil in its fuel tanks. The MV X-Press Pearl, carrying hundreds of containers of chemicals and plastics, burned for 13 days just outside Colombo's harbour before rescue workers finally extinguished the blaze on Tuesday. Dutch salvage firm SMIT attempted to pull the still-smoking wreckage of the 31,600-tonne vessel into deeper water on Wednesday but the effort stalled. Navy spokesman Indika de Silva told AFP that the stern had sunk to the bottom at a depth of 22 meters (72 feet), near Pamunugama, just north of Colombo.