Burnt-out container ship sinking off SL

COLOMBO: A burnt-out container ship that has already caused Sri Lanka’s worst maritime environmental disaster was sinking fast on Wednesday with nearly 300 tonnes of oil still in its fuel tanks.

The MV X-Press Pearl, carrying hundreds of containers of chemicals and plastics, burned for 13 days just outside the Colombo harbour before rescue workers finally extinguished the blaze on Tuesday.

Dutch salvage firm SMIT attempted to pull the still-smoking wreckage of the 31,600-tonne vessel further into deeper waters on Wednesday but the effort stalled, navy spokesman Indika de Silva told AFP.