One of the worst marine disasters happened this wednesday on Sri Lanka’s west coast. As the chemical cargo ship sank leaving behind pellets of plastic on shore which are very hard to clear and might probably stay there for generations.
The singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl carrying 1486 containers,including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics , was anchored off Sri lanka’s west coast when a fire erupted onboard after an explosion on may 20. After two long weeks , the flaming containers laden with chemicals sank this wednesday. The craft began to sink early on Wednesday , and a salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water away from the coast, Fisheries Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet, but the attempt was abandoned after several hours.
The government on Wednesday suspended fishing along an 80-Km (50-mile) stretch of the island’s coastline, affecting 5,600 fishing boats, and hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to clean affected beaches.
From the photos taken by the country’s air force , it’s clear that the wrecks of the ships burned down erupting with white flames and began sinking , and part of it soon touched the seabed, just 22 meters (73 feet) deep in the immediate area
The navy was preparing to deal with an oil spill after the ship sank , Silva added. The head of a regional fishing union Joshua Anthony said that “we can’t go into the sea which means we can’t make a living.”
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