FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG: CHEMICAL CARGO SHIP SINKING OFF SRI LANKA , FEARS OF DISASTER!

As chemical cargo ship sinks off Sri Lanka, locals fear the worst

As authorities in island nation brace for possible oil spill after ship sinks, anxious residents say the tragedy is a ‘double whammy’ after COVID.Colombo, Sri Lanka – For more than a week, the routine on the beach at Pamunugama in Sri Lanka’s Western Province, 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Colombo, has been the same.

Sri Lankan navy officers arrive in their hazmat suits and start collecting fish eye-like plastic pellets that washed ashore after a fire erupted in a chemical cargo ship on May 20.Salvage teams attempted to tow the ship out of the Sri Lankan waters following orders from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

But the crew abandoned the mission after the ship started to sink on Wednesday afternoon. Parts of the ship were visible across the water on Thursday.

The cargo ship was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other hazardous chemicals.