Insurers of burnt container ship make interim payment to Sri Lanka for cleanup, compensation

The insurers of X-Press Pearl ship, which caught fire and sank off the western coast of Sri Lanka two years ago, have made an interim payment to the Sri Lankan government, a minister said Sunday.

Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told local media that the payment will cover the cost incurred by the Maritime Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) for the beach clean-up operations and compensation for the fishermen affected by the maritime disaster.

Sri Lanka’s treasury has received 890,000 US dollars and 16 million rupees (around 49,400 dollars) as the interim payment, the minister said.

The second interim environmental assessment report compiled by the MEPA-convened expert committee priced the environmental damage from the X-Press Pearl disaster at 6.4 billion dollars.

The ship, registered under the flag of Singapore, caught fire near Colombo Port in May 2021 when carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tons of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics.
Source: Xinhua