BBC reveals a solid toxic heritage of the cargo ship from Sri Lanka

Four years after the victim cargo ship caused the largest plastic spill, which, if -recorded, volunteers on the beaches of Sri Lanka, still sifted the pounds of tiny toxic plastic pellets from the sand.

It is believed to be billions of plastic natives as they are called Carotal Catastrophe X-Press in 2021Together with tons of fuel of the engine, acid, caustic baking soda, lead, copper slag, lithium -botaris and epoxy resin – all toxic for water.

Immediate damage was obvious: the caregivers flooded the shoreline, turning it into white, while dead turtles, dolphins and fish began to wash.

But scientists now indicate the fears that the damage to the environment can be much more durable than previously thought.

So far, hundreds of millions of caregivers may have been cleaned – but the rest of the microplastic granules of lentils became more difficult to find when they disappear into the sand.

Worse than the fact that these pieces of plastic are now becoming even more toxic, according to new studies.

“They seem to accumulate pollution from the ocean,” said David Megson of the University of Manchester. “Like a great big chemical sponge.”

Nurdles is a raw material that will melt for the manufacture of plastic products, and it is not unusual if large sums are transported into a global plastic supply chain.

The problems aboard the X-Press pearl began shortly after the Dubai’s port, which was sent to Port-clang in Malaysia, when the crew noticed that the container that was transporting nitric acid, seeping, eating a metal box. But they were denied a smoking unloading permit, a container leakage in the ports in Qatar and India.

The container was leaked with acid at least eight days when it sailed into the waters of Sri Lanka late on the evening of May 19, 2021.

He demanded from emergencies – but by the morning the ship with Singapore was.

Despite the crews of the crew, the Sri Lanka and Salvers’ authorities spread throughout the ship.

Two weeks later, he dropped, shedding the cargo and fuel to the sea about nine marine miles from the southwest coast of the country, between the capital of Kolomo and Nagamba north.

The following happened “it was like the fact that from the military film,” says Muditita Kataval, an environmentalist and founder of the Pearl Centeratters, a local non-governmental organization that voluntarily assisted the cleaning operation, which was largely managed by Sri Lanka’s state authorities.

“We began to see the turtles washed similar traits … The skin had burns (and) flaky. The nose and eyes were red and inflated, and we saw the dolphins of the wash and … their skin fell off and red,” Mr. Katwow said.

The beaches were “like snow,” he said, adding that “it was awful.”

Cleaning began seriously. At the very beginning, Mr. Katavava and his volunteer colleagues “collected 300-400 kilograms of caregivers” every day.

Over time, it dropped to three -four pounds in a couple of hours.

“The educations became more and more scattered, it was harder to see them when they were buried in the sand over time.”

It was decided that the cost coefficient and benefits are no longer worth the effort to mobilize the volunteers. The group stood down, leaving the task of the state -owned local harvesting groups.

At the same time, scientists are concerned about the possibility of plastic pellets – already harmful to animals that eat them accidentally – can become more toxic, contaminated with spill or other contamination sources.

Over the following years, they have collected samples that could help trace the effect over time.

In November 2024 BBC and Studies on the watershed More than 20 of these specimens sent a team of forensic chemists specializing in environmental pollution at Manchester University.

They found that the most contaminated pupils were the ones that were burned in the fires that extend the metals to the water as arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper, cobalt and nickel.

According to Magson, the team also found that the pellets “still supposedly sucked in greater pollution” and become “more toxic”.

“They will be absorbed (and) to convey the pollution of marine organisms,” he says.

Tests conducted on a fish caught near the site of the catastrophe – as well as in the neighboring Lagoon Negamba – found the same pollutants that were present in the ship and on the care.

Some fish contained the level of dangerous metals – some of which were found in the catastrophe – exceeding safe boundaries.

Researchers say the catastrophe cannot be reduced as a contamination source, although it cannot be directly proven by the source, because it is unknown when these fish ate, how much they took, or when the pollution came from other sources.

“But located on the top of the other thing that is in this system, there is a really good likelihood that it causes harm to the environment, as well as potentially harming people and people who eat and rely on this marine ecosystem for the food source,” Magson adds.

Local fishermen really attract a link to the disaster.

“No fish since then. We have never had the same fish we caught,” Rybak Jud Sulanta explains.

“Our life has turned down. From the site where the ship sank until you get a lot of new, young fish.”

The owner of the ship, X-Press Feeders Ltd, says he has worked hard to provide the best response to the catastrophe and spent more than $ 130 million (96 million pounds) to remove the crash and debris in the sea.

It states that he also paid more than $ 20 million in the Sri Lanka Government for cleaning the coast and compensate for fishermen.

It states that the Sri Lanka government has claimed responsibility for all the coastal base harvesting, and this is disappointed with the delays in this process and the constant impact it has.

Sri Lanka’s government states that the amount paid by the owners of the ship, which was limited by the British Sea Court, is not sufficient to cover long -term damage, and it pursues legal actions to abolish the restriction and additional compensation.

On Thursday, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court obliged the company to pay $ 1 billion as an initial payment to cover long -term economic and environmental damage, which said the country suffered as a result of the catastrophe – but CAP remains in place. There is no jurisdiction in the Supreme Court over Singapore, where X-Press Feevers LTD has headquarters.

Feeders X-Press stated that it is very disappointed with the decision and that they are considering it with their legal advisers, insurers and other relevant stakeholders to best evaluate the next course of action.

Professor Passanti Guneiardin is an environmental economist at Sri Jaywardenopur University, who headed the expert committee of scientists to estimate the damage – to put the cost of the catastrophe in the nearest up to $ 6 billion, considering things such as the loss of wildlife, as well as the impact on tourism, fisheries.

“The atmosphere has added a large amount of dioxin and the furan, and it is carcinogens. And then we estimated that it could kill about 70 people in our country,” says Professor Guneiar.

The owner of the ship rejects this assessment.

It quotes the International Federation of Tank Owners (ITOPF), an organization funded by the shipping industry to evaluate marine bottling. It states that the report was “unpretentious, inaccurate and lacked a reliable scientific basis.”

The owner of the ship also stated that his crew “adhered to internationally adopted acid leakage procedures, while maintaining all safety and emergency protocols.”

The Kalomo port management also denied any responsibility, saying it did not know about the problem until the ship came in its waters.

The sea is a source of this island nation. Its stunning gold coast is a huge draw for tourists, and for generations fishing has fed the country.

But Mr. Sulanta, a fisherman, is worried that his lifestyle is no longer in the future.

“Many sell their boats and tries to go abroad. And many people are tired. In fact, my son himself works with me at the moment. He’s also a fisherman.

“But he is also considering the opportunity to leave the country. Several years have passed. If we were going to get justice, we would still have it,” he says.

You can listen to BBC Sri Lanka Documentary: X Press Pearl Catholic https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct6rbp

Leana Hosea-journalist on an environmental investigation and founder of a non-profit watershed, which investigates freshwater and marine problems.