Singapore planning investigation into sinking ship off Lanka

dpa Bangkok Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said it aims to carry out its own investigation into a stricken chemicals-laden container ship t...

dpa BangkokSingapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said it aims to carry out its own investigation into a stricken chemicals-laden container ship that has started to sink off the coast of Sri Lanka and was beginning to leak chemicals and oil on Thursday.The MPA said late on Wednesday that it “has been in constant communication with the Sri Lankan authorities” about the Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl, which caught fire two weeks ago while anchored near Colombo. It had been en route from India to the city-state, where it was registered in February.An attempt to tow the MV X-Press Pearl into deeper waters away from the main port at Colombo failed on Wednesday as part of the vessel became submerged, causing concerns that oil and chemicals could leak from the ship into the sea.  The ship’s owners, X-Press Feeders, said on Thursday that the “aft portion is sitting on the seabed at a depth of about 21 metres.” Meanwhile, oil patches and chemicals believed to have leaked from the containers and ship have been observed around the ship, Chairperson of the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) Dharshani Lahandapura said.“However so far the fuel tank of the ship has not leaked, but we are preparing to mitigate damages if there is an oil spill from the tank,” she said.Lahandapura said measures were under way to put up temporary floating barriers designed to contain an oil spill.The MPA had said earlier it was working with Sri Lankan officials to “put in place measures to reduce the extent of environmental impact.” The MV X-Press Pearl “had been delivered from the shipyard in February 2021 with the full set of applicable class and statutory certificates,” the MPA said, citing “a stringent criteria and oversight programme.” The ship was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid and a large stock of microplastic granules used for production of plastic products, when the fire broke out on May 20.