COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Attorney General informed the Colombo Magistrate Court on Wednesday that a total of 200 marine species had died because of the recent fire on X-Press Pearl which had sunk in the Sri Lankan waters.
The Attorney General told the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that 176 sea turtles, 20 dolphins, and 04 whales had died following the X-Press Pearl disaster in the seas off the coast of Colombo.
Sri Lanka has claimed an initial sum of $ 40 million for the damages caused by the fire which was the worst disaster in the marine history of the country.
Justice Minister Ali Sabry had said that compensation will be paid .to all the fishermen and others who were affected by the disaster.
The owners of the X-Press Pearl ship have agreed to pay an interim compensation to Sri Lanka to cover the cost of damage caused by the fire on the ship.
X-Press Feeders, operators of the container ship X-Press Pearl, have agreed to pay Rs. 720 million to cover the cost of compensation for fishermen affected by the fire.
“AG has informed that a payment of US $ 3.6 million will be paid for the Fishermen by the XPressPearl Agents, as the initial payment of the First Interim Damage Claim of $40 Million made by the AG for the Period 20th May to 3rd June” State Fisheries .Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said.
