The container ship had caught fire and sank near the port of Colombo
In a judgment issued yesterday, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
called upon the owner (EOS Ro Pte. Limited), the operators
(Killiney Shipping Pte. Ltd and Sea Consortium Pte. Limited) and
the local agency (Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd.) of
the container ship X-Press Pearl to make an initial payment of
one billion dollars in four installments within one year, of which the first
not less than 250 million by the next 23 September and the
subsequent one of at least 500 million within six months of the judgment,
as compensation for the environmental and economic damages caused
by the fire and sinking of the ship in 2021 off
the port of Colombo
(
on the 25th
of May and 3rd
June 2021).
The judgment notes that the container ship had on board 1,486
containers, of which 81, as ascertained, contained toxic and hazardous
chemical substances. Furthermore, the document notes that the
London P&I Club paid an initial compensation of 420 million
420 million Sri Lankan rupees (1.4 million dollars) to
compensate local fishermen, followed by two subsequent
payments in dollars (794 thousand and 633 thousand dollars) and a payment in
rupees (911.5 million) also as compensation for the damages suffered by the
fishermen.
In its conclusions, the Court found that, in order to
secure the ship’s entry into the port of Colombo, the
captain, the operator, and the local agent of the X-Press Pearl
intentionally concealed from the Colombo Port Authority
truthful, timely, complete, and accurate information regarding
the situation that had evolved over time and that prevailed at the
time of the ship’s entry into the territorial waters of Sri
Lanka, intentional actions that prevented the Port Authority
and other parties from taking the necessary measures to remedy
the situation that occurred on board the container ship and
to effectively protect the interests of Sri Lanka, including
its marine and coastal environment. Consequently, these parties were
found jointly liable for the marine and coastal environmental pollution caused.
