(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – The government has decided to pay a certain amount of compensation for the fishing community people who had to suspend fishing activities incurring losses of their daily income due to the fire aboard the containership MV X-Press Pearl.
The government states that this amount will be given to the fishing community as well as those involved in related industries.
The fire aboard the MV X-Press Pearl which caught fire on the 20th while it was anchored 9 nautical miles northwest from the Colombo harbor has been largely extinguished.
It is stated that there were 325 metric tons of fuel in the fuel tanks of the ship. Although there is a risk of leaking fuel to the sea, so far no such oil spill or fuel leak has been observed.
However, the northwestern beaches are littered with the debris from the burning ship and spilled contents of the containers of chemicals posing a health hazard to the people as well as to the marine animals.
Sri Lanka Navy along with Sri Lanka Coast Guard and Marine Environment Protection Authority continues to remove containers and other debris from the fire stricken ship collecting in coastal areas.
