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UN experts prepare report on ship disaster
View(s):Recommending short-term response measures and long-term recovery plans, the United Nations will submit a report to the Government on its investigation into the marine catastrophe following the recent fire on the cargo ship MV X-Press Pearl, according to the UN Resident Coordinator’s office.
It said the report would be based on observations made by the three-member UN expert team that arrived in the country on Thursday.
The team comprises Dr. Stephane Le Floch from the France National Oil Response and Research Centre (CEDRE), Dr. Camille La Croix, also from CEDRE, and Luigi Alcaro from the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.
Dr. Le Floch is a specialist in oil spill response and contingency planning. Dr La Croix is a specialist in marine litter pollution and Mr. Alcaro is a specialist in environmental impact assessment of oil and hazardous noxious substances spills in the marine environment.
“This is the largest case of plastic pollution from a shipping incident and as such is internationally significant. The mission is providing technical advisory support to the Sri Lankan experts on oil spill contingency planning, clean-up operations and environmental impact assessment, drawing on international best practice and lessons learned from similar incidents,” the UN office said.
It also said the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Joint Environment Unit from the global mechanism for environmental emergency response and, together, they draw on a large pool of partner institutions to deploy experts.
The UN office said it was also grateful for the generous support mobilised by the European Union in response to the Sri Lankan case.