News
X-Press Pearl disaster: AG to file law suit in Singapore
View(s):By Yoshitha Perera and Ranjith Padmasiri
Action will soon be filed in Singapore to claim compensation made over the X-Press Pearl shipping disaster based on advice rendered by a Singapore law firm on several key advantages such a move would entail, Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam said yesterday.
This Singapore law firm, which has been retained by the Australian legal experts liaising with the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department on issues pertaining to X-Press Pearl, has noted that Singapore is an appropriate forum to institute legal action over the disaster, Mr. Rajaratnam, PC told the Sunday Times.
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe estimated that the compensation claim would amount to US $ 6.2 billion.
The firm has pointed out that the defendants of the prospective litigation would be predominantly the registered owner and bareboat charter, and additionally the operator and managers of the vessel. All these parties have a business presence in Singapore as companies, domiciled in Singapore, and as such the enforceability of a judgment delivered in Singapore would be comparatively feasible against such parties, he said.
Additionally, given Singapore’s status as an internationally recognised maritime hub with an advanced judicial system to handle complex maritime matters, Sri Lanka would be in a conducive position to attract international attention to the full extent, impact and gravity of the irreversible contamination caused to Sri Lanka’s marine environment by the plastic nurdle pellets discharged from the X-Press Pearl, the firm has also highlighted.
Moreover, the Attorney General said that in terms of the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC), a judgment delivered by any court of competent jurisdiction in the X-Press Pearl incident should be limited to the British Sterling Pound Equivalent of 19.8 Million Special Drawing Right (Plus Interest) in respect of all claims. Therefore, a judgment delivered by any court eventually has to be enforced either in the jurisdiction of Singapore, where the ship owner’s interests are domiciled, or in the jurisdiction of London, where the insurer is domiciled.
The ship which was carrying hazardous materials including flammable nitric acid and plastic pellets, caught fire and sank in May, 2021 outside the Colombo harbour, causing widespread pollution and deaths of marine animals.
According to Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, the Government is confident that an international court can provide the necessary compensation, which has been estimated by expert committees to be around US$6.2 billion. However, the final amount awarded will depend on the strength of evidence presented to support the claim, he said.
The AG’s Department has already got Cabinet approval to file the case in Singapore, while the two expert committees that went into the matter of compensation recommended filing the case in Sri Lanka.
The MV X-Press Pearl incident has been one of the most devastating maritime disasters in recent years, with its environmental impact still being felt along the coast of Sri Lanka.
The sinking of the MV X-Press Pearl, which carried a cargo of hazardous materials and more than 50 billion plastic pellets (nurdles), resulted in significant pollution in the coastal area and caused the death of several marine creatures. On May 20, 2021, the vessel caught fire off Colombo marking the worst maritime tragedy in the country’s waters, while transporting 1,486 containers, of which 81 were hazardous.
“It is noteworthy that Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction is well-equipped to handle such a claim and provides for the Commercial High Court in Colombo under the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act, which offers a proper forum to seek jurisdiction,” maritime law expert Dr. Dan Malika Gunasekera said.
Additionally, the Marine Prevention Pollution Act No. 35 of 2008 has provisions under Section 30 and 34 to address the claim and impose liability on polluters, based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
A two-year time limit under the Prescription Ordinance to file for environmental damages is set to expire on May 20, 2023.
The scientific committee and damage assessment committee concluded that the damages could add up to US$6.2 billion or more.
There are four lawsuits related to the MV X-Press Pearl incident in Sri Lanka. Three have been filed by the public seeking compensation for the fishing community in the Western coastline.
The disaster had a severe impact on both the environment and local communities, particularly artisanal fisherfolk who suffered a loss of livelihood due to a fishing ban enforced along a 50-kilometer stretch of the western coast for more than a month.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!