Sri Lanka faces marine disaster as waves of plastic from burning ship wash ashore

Despite an international firefighting operation, the ship has been burning for 10 days, leading to waves of plastic waste hitting the shores of the island nation on the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka faces an unprecedented pollution crisis as waves of plastic waste from a burning container ship hit the coast and threaten to devastate the local environment, a top environment official warned Saturday. Thousands of navy ratings using mechanical diggers scooped tonnes of tiny plastic granules on the beaches that had come from the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl that has been smouldering on the horizon for ten days. Sri Lanka's Marine Protection Authority (MEPA) said the microplastic pollution could cause years of ecological damage to the Indian Ocean island.