The X-Press Pearl: 9 Days of Warning Before the Fire
2021-05-20 · Colombo, Sri Lanka · Ship: X-Press Pearl
Narration: Synthetic voice (Amazon Polly)
Summary
In May 2021, the container ship X-Press Pearl caught fire at the Colombo anchorage, off Sri Lanka. Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) published its final report on the fire in 2023. One container on board carried nitric acid. It was declared only as "NITRIC ACID", without its concentration; the acid was in fact 65 to 70 percent. Above 65 percent, UN 2031 nitric acid also carries a class 5.1 subsidiary hazard.
Before the fire, requests about that container were made at three ports. At Hamad, the TSIB cites insufficient information, a lack of protective equipment, Hamad not being the port of discharge, the need for ministerial approval and the Ramadan holidays. At Hazira, the reason given was terminal capacity. In Colombo, the request was not formally refused: it went unanswered.
Firefighting went on until a UN Environment Programme mission reported the fire under control on 31 May; the TSIB cites a Bell-212 helicopter dropping bags of dry chemical powder. Two people were injured. Plastic pellets were reported from 27 May, according to AFP. The stern reached the seabed on 2 June, and the whole ship settled on 17 June.
In July 2023, a decree of the Admiralty Court in London set a liability limit of 19,159,937 Special Drawing Rights, about 25 to 27 million US dollars. In July 2025, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled against the shipowner, the operator and the local agent, and ordered an initial payment of 1 billion US dollars. By August 2026, only about 1 million US dollars had been paid, and criminal proceedings had been suspended since 2024.
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Sources
- Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), Singapore (2023). Final report on the fire onboard X-Press Pearl at Colombo anchorage, 20 May 2021
- United Nations Environment Programme (2021). UN Environmental Advisory Mission to Sri Lanka: X-Press Pearl maritime disaster
- Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (2025). July 2025 judgment on the X-Press Pearl case, as reported by Mongabay, Splash247 and Reed Smith
- TT Club. Container safety and misdeclared dangerous goods
- International Maritime Organization. IMDG Code and the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code)
- Sri Lanka Ports Authority; AFP; Reuters (2021). Reporting on the X-Press Pearl (May and June 2021)
Credits
- X-Press Pearl off Colombo, 20 May 2021. Photos: Isuruhetti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized, unmodified).
- Smoke from the X-Press Pearl, 1 June 2021. NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain, cropped. NASA does not endorse this video.
- Illustrative: IBC tanks, Gourock. Photo: Dave souza, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified).
- Illustrative: Fire drill aboard MV Chelan. Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified).
- Illustrative: Heavy weather, Cantabrian coast, 2019. Photo: Niels Johannes, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified).
- Illustrative: Plastic pellets, Dawlish Warren, UK, 2019 (not Sri Lanka). Photo: Partonez, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified).
- Illustrative: Hamburg port at night. Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized, unmodified).
- Illustrative: Fire alarm control. Photo: Srattha Nualsate (Pexels License).
- Illustrative: Stock video and photos: Pixabay (Content License). Contributors: bellergy (cropped), staudmedia, Shihab93, TungArt7, Macb3t, neelam279, outlinez, Huskyherz.
- Maps made with Natural Earth (public domain). Diagrams and data graphics: Hazard Manifest.
- Music: Hazard Manifest music kit (tension, investigation, neutral, outro).
- Sound effects (CC0, Freesound): Mrtenant.
- Thumbnail: X-Press Pearl off Colombo, 20 May 2021. Photo: Isuruhetti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped; title and strip by Hazard Manifest. This thumbnail is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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