Sri Lanka declined to let burning ship to be towed to Hambantota Port: Minister

Sri Lanka declined to allow the ship that caught fire off the coast of Kerala, India, to be towed to a Sri Lankan port, fearing possible marine pollution from hazardous wastes, a Minister said yesterday.

The ship, the MV Wan Hai 503, which caught fire recently, was carrying 2,128 tonnes of fuel and hundreds of containers - including hazardous cargo - raising environmental concerns, as reported by the BBC.

Environment Minister Dr. Dammika Patabendi told Daily Mirror that there was a request for the ship to be towed to the Hambantota Port for its cargo to be unloaded.

"We declined to permit it because the ship was carrying cargoes with hazardous materials as well. We were under pressure from various sources. Yet, we resisted," he said.

Before that, a Liberian-flagged vessel carrying oil and hazardous cargo leaked and sank in the Arabian Sea, triggering an environmental emergency.

The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) said that the wastes from that ship were found ashore in the northern part of Sri Lanka.

The MEPA is in the process of assessing the damage to the marine environment to claim compensation from the relevant authorities.

Sri Lanka was hit by the worst-ever environmental disaster in 2021 when the X-Press Pearl ship caught fire at sea off the Colombo Port.

The Supreme Court has ordered the owners and related parties of the X-Press Pearl to pay $1 billion in compensation for environmental damage caused by the sinking of the vessel in 2021.

The Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl suffered a nitric acid leak from a container stowed on deck while on a voyage, triggering environmental concerns for Sri Lanka.