Sri Lankan firefighters extinguish 12-day blaze on container ship
Firefighters in Sri Lanka have extinguished a blaze on a container ship that had been burning for 12 days, as a court imposed a travel ban on the captain
June 1, 2021
Firefighters in Sri Lanka extinguished a blaze on a container ship that had been burning for 12 days on Tuesday, as a court imposed a travel ban on the captain.
The fire on the MV X-Press Pearl ravaged the five-month-old ship, destroyed most of its cargo and caused severe pollution in the ocean and along a long stretch of the island nation’s beaches.
Salvage personnel “have finally embarked on MV X-Press Pearl after dousing the fire", the Sri Lanka Ports Authority said.
"Assessments are being carried out,” it added.
MV X-Press Pearl was anchored off the capital, Colombo, waiting to enter its port, when it caught fire.
The Sri Lanka Navy believes the blaze was caused by chemicals that were being transported on the Singapore-flagged vessel.
It was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other chemicals that were loaded at the port of Hazira, India, on May 15.
Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said police have questioned the ship’s captain and an official of the ship’s local agent.
He said a court in Colombo banned the captain, the engineer and the assistant engineer from leaving the country.
The vessel’s 25-member crew was evacuated last week after an explosion.
They included Filipino, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals.
Updated: June 1, 2021 09:27 PM
