Passenger ship catches fire in Indonesia; passenge...
4 days ago
Sri Lanka’s highest court on Thursday ordered a Singaporean shipping firm to pay US$1 billion in damages for the island’s worst marine pollution caused by its sunken vessel. The Supreme Court directed Express Feeders, owners of MV X-Press Pearl which sank off Colombo in June 2021 after a two-week fire, to pay within a year.
The 361-page judgment stated the company “shall make further compensation payments as directed.”
Environmentalists brought the case against both government authorities and the firm for “failing to prevent the unprecedented ecological disaster.”
The vessel was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of Nitric Acid loaded in India, when it caught fire. Investigations suggest a chemical reaction ignited the blaze. The ship also contained 297 tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil and 51 tonnes of Marine Fuel Oil.
The fire began one day after the vessel’s arrival, originating from a leaking nitric acid container. Despite initial control efforts, the fire intensified, forcing evacuation of the 25 crew members and salvage team. The vessel partially sank during an attempt to tow it to deeper waters.
Prior to this ruling, Express Feeders had paid US$7.85 million for cleanup operations and fishermen compensation. The company later secured a London admiralty court order limiting their liability to £19 million (US$25 million), a decision Sri Lanka has appealed.
Sri Lankan authorities believe the fire resulted from a nitric acid leak that the crew reportedly knew about nine days before the incident. Both Qatar and India had refused to offload the leaking acid before the vessel entered Sri Lankan waters.
The environmental impact was severe, with microplastic granules covering 80km of Sri Lanka’s western coast, halting fishing activities for months.
A separate lawsuit filed by Sri Lanka against the ship’s owners in Singapore has been put on hold pending the London court decision.
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