The nine-member Sri Lankan delegation led by the Attorney General has held fruitful talks with the lawyers representing the ship-owner interests of fire-ravaged freight ship ‘MV X-Press Pearl’ and the vessel’s insurers earlier this week, the President’s Media Division (PMD) says.
During the course of these discussions held on July 18 and 19 in Singapore, the two sides have addressed the key aspects of the incident and its aftermath.
The meeting was convened in response to a request made by the lawyers on behalf of their clients following the Sri Lankan government’s claims action filed in Singapore back in April.
A key focus of the talks was to assess the outstanding interim claims put forth by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) and the Ministry of Fisheries, the PMD says.
In response to their concerns, the Sri Lankan delegation received assurance from the ship-owner interests’ insurers that the assessment of these claims would be conducted promptly and efficiently.
Furthermore, the Attorney General, representing the Sri Lankan government, emphasized the urgency of concluding the ongoing wreck decommissioning and debris recovery works within Sri Lankan waters. In response to this plea, the insurers of the ship owner responded positively, indicating their cooperation in addressing this issue.
Notably, the ship-owner interests also expressed their willingness to consider the claims made by the Sri Lankan government concerning the damage caused to the marine environment. They have shown openness to further discussions with the Government of Sri Lanka in the near future.
The PMD clarified that these discussions would have no bearing on the ongoing legal proceedings initiated in Singapore by the Sri Lankan government, which are already underway.
The PMD also said these talks mark a significant step in resolving the aftermath of the X-Press Pearl Incident and indicate a cooperative approach by all parties involved.
As the assessment of outstanding claims and environmental damage claims progresses, both the Sri Lankan government and the ship-owner interests hope to reach a fair resolution that takes into account the environmental impact and the interests of all stakeholders.
The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl vessel was gutted in a fire nearly 16km off the coast of Colombo on May 20, 2021. Fire aboard a freight ship was found to be the result of a reaction of the chemicals being transported on the ship, from which 25 crew members were evacuated safely.
At the time of the incident, it was transporting at least 1,500 containers including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, other chemicals and low-density polyethylene pellets.
The fire that raged for nearly two weeks resulted in a massive spillage of damaged containers, microplastics, plastic pellets, chemicals and other harmful substances into the sea before the wreckage of the vessel sank on June 02, 2021, while being towed away to deeper waters.
This is known as Sri Lanka’s worst maritime disaster to date.
