LELLANA — Sri Lankan fishermen say they feel helpless after a cargo ship carrying tons of chemicals and plastics caught fire and later sank, resulting in a ban on fishing along an 80 km (50 mile) stretch of the island nation’s west coast.
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored offshore when a fire erupted after an explosion on May 20.
Flaming containers filled with billions of plastic pellets tumbled into the sea from the ship’s deck as emergency crews sought to contain the blaze over the next two weeks.
In Lellama, a fishing town north of the ca…
Keep on reading: ‘Helpless’ Sri Lankan fishermen count cost of chemical cargo ship wreck