Posted on May 30, 2021
Background Story on fire from Wikipedia
X-Press Pearl
X-Press Pearl was launched just this year, 2021.
It is a 27,000 TEU container ship, 186 meters/610 ft long.
The ship departed the port of Hazira, India on 2 May 2021. The container vessel carried 1,486 containers carrying 25 tons of nitric acid, other poisonous chemicals and cosmetics and arrived in Colombo on 19 May.[3]
X-press Feeders, the owners of the vessel, said the crew had discovered a container leaking nitric acid and had requested Hamad Port in Qatar and Hazira to offload it. The request had been denied as “there were no specialist facilities or expertise immediately available to deal with the leaking acid,” and the vessel proceeded on its planned journey to Colombo.[4][5]
The ship had reached Colombo on the night of May 19 and was anchored in the outer harbor awaiting a berth. However, the ship had not declared an emergency nor the cargo acid leak. On May 20 the ship’s agents had requested a re-working of the container. Harbhour Master Nirmal de Silva said as a maritime hub Colombo had the expertise to help. The vessel had then made its first report of a fire, which the crew had put out using its on board system. [6]
It was reported that the ship caught fire on 20 May 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km; 10.9 mi) northwest of the Colombo Port.[7] The Sri Lanka Navy along with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority which got aboard the ship in order to find out the cause of fire had suspected that the fire has erupted possibly due to a reaction to the chemicals being transported on the ship.[8] During the fire incident, the vessel had a crew of 25 members on board.[9]
Though initial reports linked the incident to leaking acid, Harbor Master de Silva said the fire had broken out on the number 02 hold of X-Press Pearl while the container was stacked on deck. A fuller investigation was needed to determine the cause, he said.[10]
On 25 May, a large explosion took place inside the vessel and all 25 crew members were evacuated safely from the vessel.[11][12] Two Indian crew members who sustained injuries during the explosion were admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.[13][14]
The fire continued to blaze during 25 May and by late afternoon containers were dropping into the sea. The Sri Lanka Maritime Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) declared a Tier II oil spill event from on board bunkers as the blaze got worse.[15] India dispatched firefighting and pollution control Coast Guard vessels, a tug and a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft to help containment measures and fishermen were asked to stay clear of the ship.[16][17]
Chairperson of MEPA Dharshani Lahandapura said on 26 May that 378 tonnes of oil was on board the vessel and about half could leach into the sea after the fire ended. Bad weather prevented the deployment of oil containment booms around the ship but authorities were ready to clean up oil that reached the shore.[18] By morning burnt debris and some fallen cargo were washing up on Sri Lanka’s Negombo coast.[19] On May 29, X-Press Pearl was still smouldering and belching smoke, though flames were down. Hull integrity was still intact. Firefighting tugs continued to pour water on the ship. Sri Lanka Air Force dropped dry chemical powder. Indian Coast Guard vessel ICG Samudra Prahara, a pollution control ship, joined the task force. [20]
The ship was on the return leg of a 30-day round-trip voyage from Port Klang, Malaysia, to Qatar and Dubai.
