An worldwide firefighting effort to put out an enormous blaze on a container ship off Sri Lanka’s coast will probably take days, the nation’s navy chief mentioned Thursday, amid mounting fears of a serious oil leak.
Nine Sri Lankan ships and three Indian vessels have been working with worldwide salvage consultants to douse the eight-day outdated inferno on the Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl.
The vessel was carrying practically 1,500 containers, together with 25 tonnes of nitric acid, when a hearth broke out because it waited to enter Colombo port.
It is believed that the fireplace was sparked by a leak of nitric acid on the 186 metre (610 ft) lengthy ship. Monsoon winds fanned the flames.
“I hope in another few days we can extinguish this fire completely,” he advised AFP.
Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has mentioned it fears the vessel might break up and leak oil onto coastal seashores.
“The hull might not be secure for us to tow the ship away from our waters,” MEPA chairman Dharshani Lahandapura told AFP.
The vessel, now anchored, is carrying 278 tonnes of bunker oil and 50 tonnes of marine gasoil, she said.
Avoidable disaster
Lahandapura said the crew knew about a nitric acid leak on May 11 before entering Sri Lankan waters and that the fire could have been avoided if they acted promptly.
The ship’s operator, X-Press Feeders of Singapore, confirmed they knew about the acid leak, but said attempts to leave the leaking container in India and Qatar had failed.
It said port authorities in the two countries had rejected requests because they did not have specialist facilities.
Sri Lankan authorities have lodged a formal complaint with police ahead of initiating legal action against the ship’s captain.
Lahandapura said a large quantity of oil threatens to leak and pollute the tourist and fishing region of Negombo, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital.
“Our best option is to clean the beach and we suspect any clearing operation will take a few weeks, if not months,” she mentioned.
Sri Lankan troopers have been deployed Thursday to clear Negombo seaside as particles from eight containers that fell into the ocean after the explosion washed ashore.
Police additionally arrested eight individuals who had been scavenging for plastic uncooked supplies and cosmetics that washed up for violating coronavirus lockdown rules.
In September final yr, an oil tanker caught hearth off Sri Lanka’s east coast after an engine room explosion that killed one crew member.
The hearth on the New Diamond tanker took greater than per week to put out and left a 40 kilometre (25 mile) lengthy oil spill. Sri Lanka has demanded the house owners pay a $17 million clean-up invoice.
The 25 crew on the X-Press Pearl have been evacuated on Tuesday following the explosion. Two suffered minor accidents, the house owners mentioned, and one, an Indian nationwide, has examined constructive for Covid-19.
The ship was on its manner to Colombo from India’s Gujarat state. The vessel is anchored 14 kilometres (7.5 nautical miles) offshore and could be seen from Negombo.
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