The insurers of the X-Press Pearl, the container ship which sustained fire and sank off Sri Lanka in early June causing major pollution, have agreed to pay approximately Rs 720 Million US ($3.6 million) as compensation to the Sri Lankan fishermen affected by the disaster.
According to data by Kanchana Wijesekera, State Minister of Ornamental Fish, the US $3.6 million will be paid for the fishermen next week.
The ship, carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid and a huge amount of plastic raw materials, was heading to Colombo from Gujarat, India, when it suffered an explosion and was burning for days off Colombo, causing the worst marine pollution in the country before it sank several days later.
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Latest updates as of 25 June by X-Press Feeders, operators of the container ship, say that caretakers salvors continue to observe a grey sheen emanating from the wreck; however, it has lessened over the last week. They remain onsite on a 24-hour watch to deal with any possible debris and report any form of a spill.
A specialised salvors tug has arrived from Malaysia to take over the caretaker duties and drones have been flown in and will be deployed onsite to help with the ongoing monitoring activities.
Representatives of ITOPF and Oil Spill Response are monitoring updates from the scene and are ready to deploy in case of any reported spill.
Meanwhile, some of the crew continue to assist Sri Lankan police with the investigation into the incident.
