X Press Pearl Disaster : An Oceanographic Perspective

The container ship, X-Press Pearl, was registered in Singapore and operated by one of the largest feeder ship operators in the world, X-Press Feeders. X-Press Feeders operates a route that includes Port Klang (Malaysia) via Singapore and Jebel Ali (UAE) to Hamad Port (Qatar), with the return journey to Malaysia via Hazira (India) and Colombo (Sri Lanka).

The ship was commissioned in February 2021 and was 186 m in length. The ship departed the port of Hazira (India) on 15 May 2021 and arrived in Colombo on 19 May and was anchored off Colombo Port (~9.5 km offshore in a depth of 21 m). On 20 May, the ship reported smoke from the cargo hold, and the following day (21 May), the vessel reported a fire on the deck. On 22 May, sound of an explosion was heard in cargo hold #2 and the ship was on fire. By 24 May, the fire had intensified and was spreading toward the aft of the vessel. A louder explosion was heard on 25 May and all personnel were evacuated. The fire burned for 13 days. On 2 June, efforts to move the ship into deeper waters failed, with the aft portion sinking to the seabed at a depth of about 21 m. The forward section was still afloat on 8 June. The height of the ship was ~44 m; thus the bridge section is currently above water.

To read full story visit: https://groundviews.org/2021/06/08/x-press-pearl-disaster-an-oceanographic-perspective/