Colombo ship fire: No oil spill, intense firefighting on, says ICG

A Singapore-flagged cargo vessel, which caught fire near the Colombo beach last week, may sink, raising severe environmental concerns in the island nation. The cargo vessel was carrying a consignment of chemicals and raw materials for cosmetics from Hazira in Gujarat to Colombo Port.

New Delhi: The Indian Coast Guard has said that two of its offshore patrol vessels Vaibhav and Vajra are fighting the intense fire on board container ship MV X-Press pearl, off Colombo. In addition, ICGS Samudra Prahari, a specialised Pollution Response (PR) vessel has also been despatched to augment the efforts and respond to oil spill, when it may occur. Based on the aerial survey by Dornier aircraft on Wednesday, no oil spill has been spotted. 

The distressed vessel MV X-Press Pearl was carrying 1486 containers with nitric acid and other hazardous International Maritime Dangerous Goods code chemicals.

The extreme fire, damage to containers and prevailing inclement weather has resulted in the vessel tilting to starboard (right side when faced towards the front of the vessel), which has led to containers falling overboard. Concerted joint efforts are in progress by two ICG Ships and four tugs of Sri Lankan authorities to douse the fire. 

In addition, ICG formations at Kochi, Chennai and Tuticorin are on standby for immediate assistance towards Pollution Response. Continuous coordination is being maintained between ICG, Sri Lankan Coast Guard and other Sri Lankan authorities for augmenting the overall response operations towards containing the fire onboard MV X-Press Pearl.