Abandoned foreign ship sinks in Sri Lankan seas

A Cyprus flagged vessel which remained in the Sri Lankan seas since 2009 following a court order which prevented the ship from leaving has sunk today, a media report said.

According to Chinese based Xinhua news agency, the ship MV Thermopylae Sierra has sunk at sea close to the shores of Panadura.

There has been no crew members remained on-board at the time of the incident.

Engineers who were kept on board has withdrawn from the ship, saying they were not given food and other facilities, thus resulting in the ship being not maintained and leaving room for deterioration.

Media reports says the ship was detained in Sri Lanka in the year 2009, after a dispute involving the cargo and the crew.

“There was some 350 tons of oil on the ship but most of it was removed and now there is less than 75 tons on board. A contingency plan is now underway to face whatever environmental impact even that little oil may cause once it begins to surface,” Jagath Gunasekera of the Marine Environment Protection Authority has told Xinhua.

Still the court case against the ship remains.

Source: Xinhua