More than six months after the X-Press Pearl was destroyed by a cargo fire at sea off Sri Lanka’s west coast, four members of its crew have been allowed to return home, while a further four remain ‘detained’ at a hotel in Colombo.
The box ship, which suffered a nitric acid leak from one of its containers while voyaging through the Arabian Sea and was refused emergency berthing by at least two ports, is widely reported to have caused one of the biggest ecological disasters of all time.
However, it is the mental wellbeing of its crew who remain sequestered in the island nation’s capital that has been cast into the spotlight again with the news that at least four of the vessel’s mariners are heading home in time for the festive season.
The ship’s owners, X-Press Feeders, have said in a statement: “We are very aware and concerned about the toll that their lengthy separation from family and friends is taking on them mentally and physically and the ongoing burden placed on their families at home.”
Work to salvage cargo from the vessel, which sank on June 2, is ongoing through sonar scans of the ocean environment.
Removal of the wreck of the 2 700 TEU ship, which sank in shallow water, will only commence early in the New Year.
