The Indian Coast Guard is working with Sri Lanka to control the fire raging on cargo ship, MV X-Press Pearl, anchored off the Colombo port. India sent across two vessels after a request from Colombo.
Coast Guard ship Vaibhav was rushed on May 25, 2021, while another Coast Guard vessel, Vajra, was despatched from Tuticorin on May 26, 2021. The Indian ships are working with four Sri Lankan tugs to douse the fire that has been raging for a week now.
The accident on the ship happened when a cyclone hit Indian shores.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Defence, India has also rushed another ship Samudra Prahari—which is a specialised Pollution Response (PR) vessel. It will not only augment the firefighting efforts of the other vessels but also respond to oil spills. A Dornier aircraft from the Indian Coast Guard reported not coming across any oil spill from the stricken vessel.
An Indian Coast Guard ship trying to douse the fire on cargo ship MV X-Press Pearl (Photo: PIB)
The press statement from the ministry says that India has, "also kept its formations at Kochi, Chennai and Tuticorin on standby for immediate assistance towards Pollution Response. Continuous coordination is being maintained with the Sri Lankan Coast Guard and other Sri Lankan authorities for augmenting the overall response operations towards containing the fire onboard MV X-Press Pearl."
The Singapore registered-cargo ship, MV X-Press Pearl, was carrying 1,486 containers with nitric acid and other hazardous chemicals. The fire and the bad weather caused the vessel to tilt, resulting in some containers, out of a total of 1,500, to fall into the Indian Ocean.
Some of the containers drifted to Negombo – north of Colombo. The Sri Lankan authorities are busy apprehending people who took away materials from the containers that had washed ashore.
The Maritime Executive website says that the Sri Lankan Air Force dropped dry chemicals over the stricken ship. The injured crew have been admitted to a hospital in Colombo and have been put in quarantine. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked the firefighters for their efforts even as various agencies are keeping an eye on the likelihood of maritime pollution.
