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X-Press Pearl owners rebuff pleas to move swiftly on cleanup
A dead turtle washed ashore at Galle Face on Saturday. Pic by Akila Jaywardana
The owners of the sunken X-Press Pearl vessel are said to be pushing back against sustained pressure from Sri Lankan agencies to start recovery and cleanup operations, claiming the monsoon is blocking them.
The wildlife department said on Friday that the bodies of more than 260 turtles, 31 dolphins and six whales have washed ashore after widely believed to have been killed by the toxins and oil spilled from the ship, which caught fire and sank off the west coast in May-June.
Environmentalists say the deaths would represent just 15 per cent of total deaths.
The Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) and the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said they were urging the insurance and shipping companies to remove containers of chemicals from the sunken ship but that those firms say they cannot carry out operations due to monsoon weather conditions.
“During the monsoon the waves, wind speed and sea swells increase, so it is risky to bring another ship near the sunken ship. No-one wants another ship-related disaster so all are waiting until the weather situation becomes better,” the General Manager of MEPA, Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara said, explaining the shipping company’s stance.
CEA Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe said at meetings the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General have asked the owner and insurance companies managing the X-Press Pearl to remove the containers without disrupting legal action taken by the government over the damage caused by the sinking disaster.
“We are urging those companies to carry out removal of the chemical containers without delay. The companies can obtain foreign aid and carry out operations despite weather conditions. Sri Lanka is unable to legally remove the ship or any content without the permission of the shipping or insurance company,” Mr. Amarasinghe said.
Extensive plans have been made for the clean-up operation, once it begins, Dr. Kumara said.
First, the containers that have slid onto the seabed would be taken up, and then the containers still in position on the vessel, he said.
Dr. Kumara pointed out that as the sunken ship is in Colombo’s outer harbour, an active ship anchoring area, it needs to be removed quickly to prevent further accidents and congestion for other ships entering the port.
The Biodiversity Research Circle conservation organisation pleaded with the government not to delay in sending tissue samples from the dead turtles and other sea life to overseas laboratories to determine whether the ship caused the deaths. Delay could mean the samples sent could come from sea life that died for other reasons, the organisation’s chairman, Supun Lahiru Prakash, said.