President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday directed the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to tow the fire-stricken MV X-Press Pearl Container Ship into the deep seas off the coast of Colombo to minimise possible damage to the marine environment.

The directive was given at a special meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday evening (1 June) under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President's Media Division (PMD) said in a press release.

According to the PMD, the meeting was attended by representatives from several fields, including shipping and environmental protection. 

“The Minister of Ports and Shipping Rohitha Abeygunawardena revealed all the details, including the vessel's route from the United Arab Emirates on 9 May to the arrival near the Port of Colombo on 19 May," the PMD stated, pointing out that the experts had warned that the vessel was at risk of sinking.

The President's decision to tow the vessel had been made on the expert recommendation to minimise possible damage to the marine environment.

"Accordingly, the President gave instructions to issue an immediate order to tow the vessel into the deep seas based on the powers vested with the Chairman of the MEPA and based on technical facts as well as the advice of the Attorney General," the PMD stated, adding that the President had stated that the decision taken should be based solely on technical facts and not on politics.

Ministers Douglas Devananda, Mahinda Amaraweera, State Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, Nalaka Godahewa, Attorney General Sanjaya Rajaratnam, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, Defence Secretary General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne, Commanders of the Navy and Air Force and the officials of Ports Authority, MEPA, NARA and other line institutions were also present at the meeting.

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