Sri Lanka ship catastrophe: Is there an oil spill? What’s taking place now?

Weeks after a 610-foot chemical-laden cargo ship sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka, the nation is grappling with what’s broadly being described as the most important maritime catastrophe it has ever witnessed. The Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl had been on hearth for nearly a fortnight, earlier than it was doused earlier this month. Since then, the ship has settled on the underside of the ocean.
But the ecological injury attributable to the incident has already begun to indicate. Dead fish and different sea animals are actually washing up on Sri Lanka’s shores. Lifeless birds and turtles have additionally been sighted on the coast, which is now dotted with plastic pellets. The water surrounding the location of the catastrophe seems discoloured in satellite tv for pc photographs, heightening fears of a possible oil or chemical spill.
Aboard the ship have been over 1,000 containers, a number of of which contained poisonous chemical compounds resembling nitric acid, sodium methoxide and methanol, The Washington Post reported.

The Sri Lankan authorities is but to verify whether or not an oil spill has occurred. According to Dharshani Lahandapura, Chairperson of Marine Environment Protection Agency (MEPA), the oil within the gasoline tanks of the cargo ship had been burned out through the hearth onboard.
In this photograph supplied by Sri Lanka Air Force, tug boats and ships battle the hearth on MT New Diamond, off the jap coast of Sri Lanka within the Indian Ocean, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. The hearth on the big oil tanker off Sri Lanka’s coast has been introduced beneath management however continues to be not extinguished, the navy mentioned Saturday. (AP)
“There were 300 metric tons of fuel in the ship. We test the water near the wreck daily but so far we have not seen signs of an oil leak,” she advised Sri Lankan each day The Island.
Earlier this week, the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) had begun investigating the oil patch that was showing in satellite tv for pc photographs of the location, Sri Lankan newspaper Nation reported. In an announcement, the operators of the container ship mentioned that there was no “noticeable fuel oil spill” from the X-Press Pearl.
On Monday, the captain of the cargo ship, Vitaly Tyutkalo, was arrested for violating the nation’s Marine Pollutions Prevention Act. He was granted bail on the identical day, native police mentioned.
Arjuna Hettiarachchi the Chairman of the Sea Consortium Lanka PVT Ltd, the native agent of the X-Press Pearl, was arrested by the nation’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday after an investigation discovered that the company had acted with negligence. However, he, too, was granted bail later that day.
The fisheries and tourism sectors have taken a major hit. In an interview with Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Morning, Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) Chairperson Attorney-at-Law Darshani Lahandapura mentioned: “An expert panel has been appointed comprising of 28 individuals from various fields such as environmental economics, fisheries, biodiversity, etc., to determine the compensation that would be sought, and when the compensation is being calculated, all these areas – the livelihood of the community, tourism, the damage done to the biodiversity and flora and fauna – would be also be taken into account.”

The Colombo-bound ship was crusing from Gujarat when a fireplace broke out onboard on May 20. For 12 days, the Sri Lankan Navy and Indian coastguard labored collectively to try to douse the blaze and to forestall the ship from sinking. Fishing within the space was quickly suspended and environmentalists warned of the affect the catastrophe may have on marine life.