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A freighter burns down, its cargo contaminates the Indian Ocean - it is the worst environmental disaster in Sri Lanka's history. Drone recordings already show the extent of the pollution off the coast. In the containers that had fallen overboard, there were around three billion plastic balls from which plastic bags are made. Some of them have already been washed onto the beaches. The government is deploying soldiers and has closed an 80-kilometer stretch of coast to fishing. But the plastic granulate will probably not hit Sri Lanka alone. It will stay in the sea forever because it is not biodegradable.
Charitha Pattiaratchi, Coastal Oceanographer, University of Western Australia:
According to our model calculation, the particles will likely land in Indonesia in 40 to 50 days. When the monsoons turn, they will get back to Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Somalia. "
On May 15, the MV X-Press Pearl was loaded with 1,486 containers in the Indian port of Hazira.
There were also 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals on board.
On May 20, a fire broke out on board as the ship waited 18 kilometers northwest of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo to enter the port.
The crew was evacuated.
Rescue workers tried to extinguish the fire for twelve days, and at least three containers fell into the sea. Attempts to pull the ship away from the coast into deeper waters failed. On Wednesday, the stern of the ship sank to the bottom of the sea. The shipping company X-Press Feeders from Singapore said that a large part of the chemicals had been burned. In addition, there has so far been no evidence that any of the 350 tons of oil on board had entered the sea. The authorities promise that if the oil leaks, be prepared.
Dharshaini Lahadapura, Authority for the Marine Environment:
»Should there be an oil spill, we have different options depending on the weather conditions. We can put an oil barrier around the freighter. If that doesn't work, we can dump oil dispersants out of the air. If both of these don't work, we have to protect the coast. We are ready for all of this. "
India has sent three ships to contain a possible oil spill.
But so far the helpers can only watch what is happening to the ship.
In the event of an oil spill, the marine ecosystems would be massively affected.
The government now wants to demand compensation from the shipping company.
What exactly led to the ship disaster is currently unclear.
