Sri Lanka to probe ‘corruption’ in handling of 2021 cargo ship disaster

The move follows allegations of money laundering, delay tactics and mismanagement in dealing with the aftermath of the environmental disaster.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s new government, led by left-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, will launch a fresh investigation into the handling of the MV X-Press Pearl cargo ship disaster that devastated marine life along swaths of the island nation’s coastline three years ago, a senior minister has told Al Jazeera.

The announcement came amid allegations of corruption, delay tactics and mismanagement in dealing with the aftermath of the disaster, and a lack of compensation for the affected fishermen.

In May 2021, the Singapore-registered cargo ship caught fire near Negombo, a popular tourist destination off the Sri Lankan west coast, spilling tonnes of hazardous substances, including nitric acid and microplastic granules, into the Indian Ocean.

The fire on the ship, heading to Sri Lanka’s main city of Colombo from the Indian state of Gujarat, was believed to have been caused by a nitric acid leak. The toxic leak from the ship killed a large number of fish, turtles and other marine mammals, and devastated the livelihoods of more than 20,000 fishing families.

Three years after the fire and oil leak on the ship, people are still awaiting justice in the form of compensation and accountability.

Dissanayake’s government now plans to investigate the incident after the country’s parliamentary elections conclude on November 14. His National People’s Power (NPP) is expected to win the vote.

“There are many allegations about the X-Press Pearl disaster,” Vijitha Herath, the country’s public security minister told Al Jazeera and Watershed Investigations, a United Kingdom-based