Sri Lanka ship fire mounts fear of oil spilling
International salvage experts go on frantic bid
Agence France-Presse . Colombo | Published: 16:53, May 27,2021 | Updated: 16:58, May 27,2021
Sri Lanka’s Navy ship tries to douse fire as smoke billows from the Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which has been burning for the eighth consecutive day in the sea off Sri Lanka’s Colombo Harbour, on a beach in Colombo on May 27, 2021. AFP
International salvage experts and Indian vessels on Thursday joined a desperate bid to extinguish a huge blaze on a container ship off the Sri Lankan coast as fears grow that the vessel could cause a devastating oil spill.
An international firefighting effort to put out a huge blaze on a container ship off Sri Lanka's coast will likely take days, the country's navy chief said Thursday, amid mounting fears of a major oil leak. But easing winds in the Indian Ocean will make firefighting efforts easier, Sri Lanka navy chief Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne said, describing the sea and wind conditions as "favourable".
Nine Sri Lankan ships and three Indian vessels have been working with international salvage experts to douse the eight-day old inferno on the Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl.