X-Press Pearl Loss Expected To Be Bigger Than $6.4 Billion; Damage Has Not Been Assessed for Two Years

මෙම වාර්තාව සිංහලෙන් කියවීමට මෙතන ක්ලික් කරන්න.

The damage caused by the fire and toxic spill of the vessel X-Press Pearl has yet to be properly assessed, a court in Sri Lanka has been told.

Lawyers representing several Fundamental Rights petitioners told the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka that two interim reports on the damage to X-Press Pearl vessel have been prepared, but a final assessment is yet to be made; testing has been discontinued since 2022.

The X-Press Pearl disaster in May 2021 caused irreparable damage to the marine ecosystem off Sri Lanka. At least 81 of the 1,486 containers aboard the vessel were transporting 15 distinct categories of hazardous material, including a container full of nitric acid. It also killed hundreds of marine animals and severely impacted the fishing and tourism industries.

In its second interim report, a 40-member expert panel appointed by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) estimated the damage at $6.4 billion. However, the experts said testing needs to be continued for several more years to assess the final damage. 

As such, the damage is much bigger than $6.4 billion, said Dr Ravindranath Dabare, the counsel representing some aggrieved parties.

“Out of 36 sections that needed to be assessed, only three sectors had been completed. However, the experts were not asked to continue the assessment after 30 November 2022. On that basis, we claim that the compensation we want to receive should be more than $6.4 billion dollars,” Dr Dabare told Midpoint.

Compensation claim

How Sri Lanka pursued compensation from the vessel owner has also come under scrutiny. A panel of legal experts, Ronald Perera, PC, Chandaka Jayasundere, PC, and Dr Dan Malika Gunasekara handed over their recommendations to MEPA on 12 March, 2023. They have recommended filing the compensation lawsuit in Sri Lanka. The scientists who assessed the damage agreed.

However, in late April 2023, the Attorney General’s Department (AGD) filed a lawsuit in Singapore. Former Justice Ministers Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, and Ali Sabri, PC, supported the decision by the AGD but the former head of MEPA, Attorney-at-Law Darshani Lahandapura, has detailed the questionable and “lethargic” behavior of the AGD. 

Environmentalist Dr Ajantha Perera, another petitioner, is also highly critical of the AGD’s decision.

“We don’t know what’s going on in Singapore. We have no way of knowing what’s going on. People in this country are eating fish right now. But there are many toxic substances in this sea. But the reason we can’t even get compensation is because this case is still pending in Singapore,” she said.

Sanjay Rajaratnam, the AGD and former Attorney General, refused to comment.

After the new government came to office, the then Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Vijitha Herath, stated that a new investigation would be initiated regarding the alleged irregularities while seeking compensation from the vessel owners.

The new Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, also confirmed that.

Foreign experts

Before filing the case in Singapore, Sri Lanka sought the advice of foreign experts. Sparke Helmore, an Australian legal firm, was chosen for legal advice. The AGD refused to reveal the cost of hiring the firm or other foreign experts.

Former MEPA chairman Darshani Lahandapura stated before the Parliamentary Select Committee that Sparke Helmore’s Michelle Taylor was also of the opinion that Sri Lanka has sufficient legal provisions to prosecute shipowners for the damage caused.

According to Lahandapura, Taylor mentioned that during a conversation when she visited Sri Lanka.

Sparke Helmore refused to comment. 

Only Rs 5850 per month

Director General of Fisheries Department Susantha Kahawatta told Midpoint that 2.8 billion rupees have been distributed among 19,920 fishing families as compensation.

But a lawyer representing Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told the Supreme Court that fishermen have received only 5850 rupees ($68.23 USD) per family per month for the loss of their livelihood during the disaster.

Attorney-at-Law Nilshantha Sirimanna questioned how a family can live on 5850 rupees in the current economic climate of Sri Lanka.

He also stated before the Supreme Court that, although the wreckage of the ship was in the process of being removed in January 2024, it has not yet been confirmed whether the removal has been completed. He says that it is the standard practice to issue a certificate of removal after such an operation, but such a certificate has not yet been issued.

More than three years on, numerous questions surrounding the X-Press Pearl disaster remain answered.