Burning Ship With Hazardous Chemicals Could Cause Acid Rain In Sri Lanka: Report

Cargo Ship Fire Off Sri Lanka: All 25 members on board the ship MV X-PRESS PEARL - consisting crew from India, China, Philippines and Russia - were rescued on Tuesday after a 'fire alarm' dispatch was sent.

There could be slight acid rains due to the emission of nitrogen dioxide from the Singapore-flagged cargo ship which caught fire near the Colombo beach last week, Sri Lanka's top environment body has warned, asking people to be vigilant in case of inclement weather. The cargo vessel - MV 'X-PRESS PEARL' - was carrying a consignment of chemicals and raw materials for cosmetics from Hazira in Gujarat to Colombo Port. It caught fire 9.5 nautical miles from the coast in Colombo, where it was anchored outside the Port of Colombo on May 20. Apart from the 325 metric tonnes of fuel in its tanks, MV X-Press Pearl was loaded with 1,486 containers carrying about 25 tonnes of hazardous nitric acid. "We observed that the emission of Nitrogen Dioxide from the MV X-PRESS PEARL was massive. With the emission of Nitrogen Dioxide gas in the rainy season, there could be slight acid rains," Dharshani Lahandapura, Chairperson of Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), was quoted as saying by news website newsfirst.lk on Friday.