NEGOMBO (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka is dealing with its worst seaside air pollution disaster as tonnes of plastic waste from a burning container ship wash ashore, a senior surroundings official stated Saturday.
Fishermen have been banned from an 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of coast close to the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl as a world firefighting operation went into a tenth day.
“There may be smoke and intermittent flames seen from the ship,” navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva instructed AFP. “Nonetheless, the vessel is steady and it’s nonetheless in anchorage.”
Authorities are extra nervous about tens of millions of polyethylene pellets washing up on seashores and threatening fish-breeding shallow waters.
The affected seafront is understood for its crabs and jumbo prawns in addition to its vacationer seashores.
“That is in all probability the worst seaside air pollution in our historical past,” stated Dharshani Lahandapura, head of Sri Lanka’s Marine Surroundings and Safety Authority (MEPA).
1000’s of army and safety personnel in hazmat fits are cleansing the seashores of plastic waste and different particles from the ship, which caught fireplace on Could 20.
The affect on mangroves, lagoons and marine wildlife within the area was being assessed.
The roles of 1000’s of fishermen are in danger, in response to authorities, and the MEPA stated a attainable oil leak would solely add to the devastation.
A lot of the ship’s cargo, together with 25 tonnes of nitric acid, sodium hydroxide, lubricants and different chemical compounds, appeared to have been destroyed within the fireplace, officers stated.
The X-Press Pearl caught fireplace because it waited to enter Colombo harbour and stays anchored simply outdoors the port.
Authorities consider the hearth was brought on by a nitric acid leak that the crew had been conscious of since Could 11. The 25-member crew had been evacuated after an explosion on the vessel.
4 Indian ships have joined Sri Lanka’s navy within the battle to comprise the hearth. Two vessels had been outfitted to take care of an oil slick, officers stated.
Salvage operations are being led by the Dutch firm SMIT, which has despatched specialist fire-fighting tugs.
SMIT was additionally concerned in dousing a burning oil tanker off Sri Lanka’s east coast final September after an engine room explosion that killed a crew member.
The fireplace on the New Diamond tanker took greater than every week to place out and left a 40-kilometre (25-mile) lengthy oil spill. Sri Lanka has demanded the house owners pay $17 million for the clean-up.