COLOMBO — Sri Lanka is once again facing a significant marine environmental crisis, as tiny plastic pellets, commonly known as nurdles, have begun washing ashore along the island’s northern coastline. This time, the pollution is linked to the sinking of the Liberia-flagged container ship MSC ELSA 3 off of Kerala, India. The unfolding incident has […]
  • The Liberia-flagged vessel MSC ELSA 3, carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo, along with almost 85 metric tons of diesel and 367 metric tons of furnace oil, sank off of Kerala, in southern India, on May 25.
  • Just 10 days after the sinking of MSC ELSA 3, Sri Lanka’s northern coast recorded significant plastic pollution with the costal belt being contaminated with bags full of plastic nurdles, making the island nation brace for more pollution as strong monsoonal winds contribute to increased pollution.
  • The incident has revived painful memories of 2021 when Sri Lanka experienced its worst maritime disaster, the X-Press Pearl incident, which caused massive coastal pollution on the island’s western coast and parts of the south and northwest, with the island nation still fighting for adequate compensation.
  • Meanwhile, another ship, MV Wan Hai 503, carrying 2,128 metric tons of fuel and hazardous cargo, also caught fire on June 7, off the south Indian coast of Kerala, which is still ablaze and is expected to cause further pollution along Sri Lanka’s northern coast.

archived (Wayback Machine)