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Navy divers (left) prepare to inspect the hull of the wrecked Singaporean-flagged MV X-Press Pearl (right) that partially sank off the Colombo Port anchorage — Pix by SLN Media Unit
By Asiri Fernando
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday requested assistance from the United Kingdom to evaluate the impact on the environment from the wrecked MV X-Press Pearl container vessel.
The request was made during a meeting with British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton at the Presidential Secretariat.
Sri Lanka has also sought assistance from the European Union, United States, India, Australia, France and several UN organisations to help contain a possible oil spill and support clean-up of the affected coastline, Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) General Manager Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara told Daily FT.
Dr. Kumara pointed out that all available resources had been deployed to respond to a possible oil spill following the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
When questioned about the national response capability in such incidents, Dr. Kumara pointed out the urgent need to fill gaps in the capacity and capabilities in responding to oil spills and marine disasters.
"We need to be better prepared to respond to a range of situations of varying sizes in the future," he said.
Teams of armed forces personnel are continuing clean-up efforts along the affected western coast but efforts were hampered by adverse weather yesterday.
On Thursday, harbour authorities, citing experts, said they suspected that most of the oil aboard the vessel (estimated to around 300 MT) had been burnt off during the 13-day fire which partially sank the vessel. However, an investigation of the wreck by a salvage specialist is needed to verify the claim. Adverse weather and safety concerns have prevented specialists from boarding the wreck as of last evening.
The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) lodged Fundamental Rights petitions at the Supreme Court yesterday over the MV X-Press Pearl incident. The CEJ is seeking an inquiry into how the distressed X-Press Pearl vessel entered Sri Lanka. The petitioners highlighted the extensive damage done to the environment from the incident and the State's lack of preparedness to respond to environmental and maritime emergencies.
According to Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is moving ahead with the investigation regarding the incident.
The CID had yesterday recorded a statement from the Director-General of the Merchant Shipping Secretariat in relation to the incident and obtained e-mail correspondence between the vessel’s Captain, the vessel's Singaporean operator and their local agent. "The CID will analyse the orders issued to the Captain and the requests made by him to further the investigation."
Detectives will also interview the ship’s First Officer, DIG Rohana said, adding that the Police had obtained a travel ban order from the Fort Magistrate’s Court, preventing the 25-member crew from leaving the island.
An investigation team of CID officers and personnel from the Government Analyst's Department visited the wreck site on-board the Coast Guard vessel SLCG Samudraraksha, to obtain seawater samples and conduct an on-site investigation, the Navy said.
Experts have called the MV X-Press Pearl incident the "worst marine environmental disaster faced by Sri Lanka to date". Sri Lanka has faced four major maritime disasters since the turn of the century. However, authorities have yet to make responding to maritime emergencies and pollution control a policy priority.
