The sinking of the MV X-Press Pearl delivered a devastating blow to Sri Lanka's marine life, killing dozens of dolphins and over a hundred turtles while causing an estimated $6.4 billion in environmental damage. Five years on, persistent plastic nurdles continue washing onto beaches like Pamunugama during monsoon seasons, degrading local breeding grounds. Meanwhile, small-scale operators were largely cut out of early interim relief due to documentation hurdles, and more than a year after a court ordered a $1 billion payment, international disputes leave the money completely unpaid.
Key points
Plastic pellets continue to disrupt coastal breeding habitats and wash ashore during roug…: Plastic pellets continue to disrupt coastal breeding habitats and wash ashore during rough monsoon seas half a decade after the initial disaster.
Small-scale fishing families remain largely uncompensated due to bureaucratic barriers an…: Small-scale fishing families remain largely uncompensated due to bureaucratic barriers and claims systems that favored large commercial fleets.
International court challenges involving the vessel's owner and insurer have effectively…: International court challenges involving the vessel's owner and insurer have effectively frozen the disbursement of legally mandated compensation funds.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
On the beach in Pamunugama, on Sri Lanka’s west coast, women in uniform work under the scorching sun. They sift through rubbish washed ashore, searching among the usual litter for something much smaller: tiny plastic pellets.
Five years ago, in May 2021, this same beach was swamped with pellets as smoke rose over the Indian Ocean.
In May 2021, after the MV X-Press Pearl caught fire 10 miles off this stretch of coast. The Singapore-flagged container ship was carrying 1,486 containers, including tonnes of hazardous materials such as nitric acid. As the blaze intensified, containers fell overboard and billions of pellets known as nurdles, which are used to make most plastic items, spilled into the sea before the vessel sank.
In the weeks that followed, hundreds of dead marine animals washed ashore, including more than 100 turtles and dozens of dolphins.
“The coconut trees turned black and died. Baby coconuts started falling. We know by experience that this is not normal and was a result of the disaster,” says Roger Peiris, who was working for the YMCA at the time…
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