X-Press Pearl issue continuing to hang fire

It’s been nearly four years since the X-Press Pearl, a Singaporean-flagged container ship, burned and sank off the coast of Sri Lanka. Described as the worst maritime disaster in the country’s history, the ship carried over 1,400 containers filled with chemicals, plastics, and other hazardous cargo. But while the flames were doused in 2021, the damage continues to burn through Sri Lanka’s economy and ecosystem—largely uncompensated.

Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) chairman, Hemantha Withanage, speaking to The Island Financial Review said: “We estimate Sri Lanka has lost over USD 6.4 billion—that’s more than Rs. 2 trillion in today’s value. And what have we received? Just USD 890,000. That’s not even one percent.”

The fire on board the X-Press Pearl released 9,700 metric tons of epoxy resin, 1,680 tons of plastic pellets, along with caustic soda, nitric acid, methanol, and other chemicals into the ocean. Many of these substances—such as bisphenol-A (BPA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—are known carcinogens.

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore. Coral reefs were suffocated. And the plastic pellets—known as nurdles—spread not only along the Sri Lankan coast, but were later found as far away as Indonesia and the Maldives.

“We’re talking about chemicals that don’t just vanish. They’re in the water, in the fish, and possibly now in our bodies, Withanage says.

“Yet, to this day, there has been no comprehensive health study on affected communities, no long-term biodiversity monitoring, and no transparent public accounting of what was lost.”

Despite the catastrophic nature of the disaster, the bulk of public discourse has centered around compensating fishermen, while Sri Lanka’s broader economic losses remain underreported.

By Ifham Nizam