Sinking ship threatens marine life

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has warned fishermen, residents and marine officials along the coastal belt off the seas between Panadura and Negombo to be vigilant over the leaking furnace oil from the Cyprus ship which is sinking and added that if it goes ashore, a large man power would have to be deployed to remove it.

DMC Deputy Director of Media, Sarath Lal Kumara told the Sunday Observer that the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has already taken steps to lay a plastic cover of one square kilometre to stop even a small quantity of oil heading towards the shore.

The MEPA’s latest reports show that a thin oil layer from the sinking ship is flowing ashore at Wellawatte. Coast Guards and MEPA officials are removing the sand affected by oil.

It is also reported that a small scale oil spill is currently spreading towards the seas off Negombo.

Lal Kumara said that there was similar incident in Galle during 2008 and the leaking oil was removed immediately before it caused any harm to the environment and the fish.

He said the MEPA had warned of a possible oil spill from the sunken ship since last year, but due to the order of the Appeal Court, the authorities were unable to remove it.

The sinking merchant ship named, Thermopylae Sierra , belonging to the Cyprus Government is 155 metres long and 127 metres wide.

The ship had remained anchored off the Panadura coast for the past three years due to a case pending in the Colombo Commercial High Court over a dispute between the ship’s owners and the workers.