Sri Lankan authorities say they have recovered the voyage data recorder from the wreck of the X-Press Feeders containership that ran aground last month.
The maritime black box was removed from the bridge of the 2,743-teu X-Press Pearl (built 2021) over the weekend.
Authorities hope its recovery will help to shed some light on the vessel’s movements and its communications with harbour in Colombo where it had been due to berth.
Sunday saw a team comprising several senior diving officers from the Sri Lanka Navy conduct a special diving operation to inspect the ship for any signs of pollution.
“During this underwater operation, the diving team inspected to see if there was any leakage from the fuel tanks in the submerged part of the vessel,” the navy said in a statement.
The operation was said to have been hampered by a combination of rough sea conditions, poor underwater visibility and strong currents.
The navy said it intends to conduct another diving operation on Monday, to continue its underwater inspection of the vessel and check for any fuel leakages.
Oil pollution
X-Press Feeders said the situation on scene remains under observation with no signs of debris and no reports of fuel oil pollution in an update released on Saturday evening.
The ship's aft portion remains on the seabed at a depth of about 21 meters while the forward section continues to settle down slowly.
Salvors remain on scene to deal with any possible debris, supported by the Sri Lankan Navy and the Indian Coast Guard, who have oil-spill response capabilities on standby.
Representatives of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) and Oil Spill Response are said to be “monitoring updates from the scene and remain on standby to be deployed in case of any reported spill”.
“They continue to coordinate with MEPA [Sri Lankan Marine Environmental Protection Authority] and the Sri Lankan Navy on an established plan to deal with any possible spill of oil and other pollutants,” X-Press Feeders said.
The Singapore-flagged ship, laden with 1,486 containers including several with 25 tonnes of nitric acid, caught fire offshore Colombo on 20 May and burned for 11 days.
The fire has been called “the worst marine incident in Sri Lanka's history” and many officials worry the wreck could cause years of ecological damage as plastic pellets and hazardous waste has begun washing up on local beaches.
The ship's captain and chief engineer, both Russians, are said to have been interviewed by police and had their passports seized.
