With judgment delivered yesterday, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka called the owner (EOS Ro Pte. Limited), operators (Killiney Shipping Pte. Ltd and Sea Consortium Pte. Limited) and the local agency (Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd.) X-Press Pearl the initial payment of one billion dollars in four installments within one year, of which the first not less than 250 million by the next 23 September and the next of at least 500 million within six months from the sentence, as compensation of environmental and economic damage caused by the fire and sinking of the ship occurred in 2021 off the port of Colombo(of 25 May and 3 June 2021).

The judgment recalls that the container carrier had 1.486 containers, of which 81, as it was established, containing toxic and dangerous chemicals. In addition, the document recalls that the London P&I Club paid a first compensation of 420 million of 420 million rupees of Sri Lanka (1.4 million dollars) to compensate the local fishermen to whom two successive payments in dollars (794 thousand and 633 thousand dollars) are followed and a payment in rupees (911.5 million) always as compensation for the damage suffered by fishermen.

In its conclusions the Court found that, in order to obtain the entry of the ship in the port of Colombo, the commander, the operator and the local agent of the X-Press Pearlhave intentionally concealed to the Harbour office of Colombo information truthful, timely, complete and accurate concerning the situation that had evolved over time and which takes at the time of the entry of the ship into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, intentional actions that have prevented the Harbour office and other parts to take the necessary measures to remedy the situation occurring on board the container port and to effectively protect its interests of the marine environment, including its costs. As a result, these parts were deemed to be solidly responsible for marine and coastal pollution.