Fire ravaged ship evacuated

X-Press Feeders, owners, operators and managers of the container ship X-Press Pearl, reported that all crew members were safely evacuated from the vessel on 25 May, as the vessel was anchored about 9.5 miles northwest of Colombo port in Sri Lanka.

“Despite the best efforts of salvors and firefighting tugs, the blaze had spread overnight, fanned by strong winds. With the crew’s safety of utmost importance to X-Press Feeders, the decision was made to evacuate them,” said X-Press Feeders.

Attempt to save cargo

X-Press Feeders said it will continue to work closely with the Sri Lankan authorities and emergency services with assistance from its appointed salvors to extinguish the blaze in an effort to save the vessel and its cargo. Specialised firefighting equipment which arrived from Europe on 24 may will join the salvaging operations.

X-Press Feeders will continue to liaise with customers regarding their containers onboard the vessel.

On 21 May, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said it responded to a distress call of fire that erupted onboard the X-Press Pearl on 20 May. An SLPA tugboat and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) were dispatched to tackle the fire.

The feeder vessel, registered under the flag of Singapore, is carrying 1486 containers with 25 tons of Nitric Acid, several other chemicals and cosmetics from the Port of Hazira, India, said SLPA. The fire is believed to have started “due to a reaction to the chemicals being transported on the ship”, said the SLPA.

The ship arrived at the location of the fire on 19th May, before it was due to enter Colombo Port. The ship has been manned by a crew of 25, who are Philippine, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals.