Burned, submerged cargo ship spills tons of plastic granules into sea and may be leaking oil

Colombo — Sri Lanka announced an investigation Thursday into a possible oil slick reported off its west coast, where a container ship is submerged after burning for 13 days. Coast Conservation Minister Nalaka Godahewa said local experts were asked to examine an oil patch of about 3.6 million square feet where MV X-Press Pearl ran aground earlier this month.

"I visited the area by boat yesterday and what we noticed was a thin film of oil which looked like diesel," Godahewa told reporters in Colombo.   The X-Press Pearl reported an onboard acid leak and caught fire just as it was due to enter the Colombo harbor on May 20.