The Sri Lankan authorities announced, Sunday, May 30, a legal action against the owner of the container ship which has been burning since May 20 in front of the port of Colombo.
The ship's fire has already caused one of the most serious marine pollution in the history of the island, dumping millions of plastic granules on Sri Lankan beaches.
Earlier, the country had launched an investigation to determine how the fire had started on board the boat, which was carrying 25 tons of nitric acid and around 30 containers filled with plastic packaging material.
The Marine Environment Protection Authority (Mepa), which on Saturday spoke of "probably the most important pollution in our history", announced on Sunday that it had met with the Minister of Justice to prepare the legal action against the shipowner and insurance companies.
"We will take those responsible to justice," Marine Environment Protection Authority president Dharshani Lahandapura told reporters, stressing however that assessing the damage would take time.
Authorities said last week they believed the fire, which broke out on May 20 aboard the Singapore-registered "X-Press Pearl," was caused by a nitric acid leak that the crew had known since May 11.
Millions of plastic granules dumped
The bulk of the pollution comes from the millions of polyethylene granules intended for the packaging industry, dumped at sea and on beaches by eight of these containers that have fallen into the water.
The pollution affects an area of around 80 kilometers along the coast around Colombo, an area of tourist beaches, shallow-water fishing areas, and fragile ecosystems of mangroves and lagoons.
The 25 crew members, who have already been evacuated and are now in quarantine, will be questioned Monday as part of the investigation opened by Mepa, police said.
"We also sent samples of polluted seawater and burnt debris from the boat for analysis," police spokesman Ajith Rohana said.
And there is no question of the ship being towed out of Sri Lankan waters until experts can examine it, he said.
The fire under control
Authorities and the ship's operator said the fire was continuing, but was under control.
The fire weakened the structure of the 186 m long ship.
"It will take a few more days to extinguish the fire completely," admitted Vice-Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, while considering that there was no longer any danger that the vessel would break up and release at sea not only its fuel but also its cargo of 278 tonnes of bunker fuel and 50 tonnes of marine diesel.
The boat's owner, X-Press Feeders, says her hull is intact and her fuel tanks are unaffected.
According to authorities, most of the cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid, caustic soda, lubricants and other chemicals, appears to have been destroyed by the flames.
With AFP
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