President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today instructed officials to take steps to tow the stricken container vessel X-Press Pearl out to the deep sea.
The President gave these instructions during a meeting of Government ministers and officials involved in the salvage and cleanup efforts held this evening at the Presidential Secretariat, the President's Media Unit (PMD) stated.
Experts who took part in the meeting pointed out that there was a risk of the vessel, which had been wreaked by fire, could sink. As such, they recommended that the best way to minimize the impact on the marine environment would be to tow the vessel out to the deep sea.
Accordingly, the President instructed the Chairperson of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to issue an order for the vessel to be towed out to the deep sea, based on the Attorney General's advice, the PMD added.
A short while later, the official car of the Commander of the Navy, bearing plate NAHA 5006, departed from Navy House, Longdon Place, Colombo 7.
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