Sri Lanka braces for oil spill from sunken cargo ship

Sri Lanka braced for the possibility of an oil spill on Thursday after a cargo ship laden with chemicals sank off its western coast, in what is already the country's worst ever man-made environmental disaster.

The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics was anchored off the port city of Negombo when a fire erupted on board after an explosion on May 20.

Flaming containers filled with chemicals tumbled into the sea from the ship's deck as emergency crews sought to contain the blaze over the ensuing two weeks.

The ship, which was only four months old, began to sink early on Wednesday.

A salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water, away from the coast, but the attempt was abandoned after the rear of the ship touched the seabed.

The ship's operators, X-Press Feeders, said in a statement on Thursday there were still no signs any of the 350 tonnes of fuel and oil had leaked from the ship and much of the toxic cargo had been incinerated in the fire.

The Sri Lankan government has said it would seek redress for the incident.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/7917071/sri-lanka-chemical-ship-sinks-environment/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews #SriLanka #OilSpill