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一艘货船在斯里兰卡附近海域持续燃烧了近两周。
而这场火灾带来的后果，可能无法估量。
“MS X-Press Pearl”号，一艘在新加坡注册的货轮，于5月15日从印度出发，5月20日抵达科伦坡港附近时发出火警求救信号。
斯里兰卡海军以及港务局派出救援船到现场灭火，火势一度基本得到控制，但5月25日货轮发生爆炸并再次燃起大火。经过为期13天的救援，大火终于在本周二被扑灭，全部25名船员已撤离。
然而，灾难没有结束。
A cargo ship carrying tonnes of chemicals sank off Sri Lanka’s west coast, its navy said on Wednesday, and tonnes of plastic pellets have fouled the country’s rich fishing waters in one of its worst-ever marine disasters.
The government on Wednesday suspended fishing along an 80-km (50-mile) stretch of the island’s coastline, affecting 5,600 fishing boats, and hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to clean affected beaches.
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored off Sri Lanka’s west coast when a fire erupted onboard after an explosion on May 20.
Flaming containers laden with chemicals tumbled into the sea from the ship’s deck as emergency crews sought to contain the blaze over the ensuing two weeks.
这艘货轮载有1486个集装箱，包括25吨硝酸，和28个集装箱的塑料袋原材料，油箱里还有300多吨燃料。
斯里兰卡西部的海岸线已被大量大量聚乙烯颗粒和浮油淹没。外媒报道称，该国正面临历史上最严重的环境灾难。
An officer from the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency collects samples of a cargo container that spilled from the MV X-Press Pearl container ship which caught fire off the Colombo Harbor, on a beach in Ja-Ela, Sri Lanka, May 26, 2021. /Reuters
聚乙烯颗粒被大量用于制造塑料袋、薄膜等产品，但同时这些颗粒对于海洋生物来说是致命的。由于体积小，这种颗粒很容易被鸟类、鱼类和其他海洋野生动物误食，大量海洋生物因此死亡。
在过去的几天里，斯里兰卡政府已经部署了超过1000 人来清理受到污染的海滩。当地居民被告知不要接触任何动物尸体，因为可能含有剧毒。火灾现场方圆80公里范围内已禁止捕鱼，5600艘渔船的作业将受到影响。
The Marine Environment Protection Authority said that the burning of the X Press Pearl vessel had caused a massive environmental disaster as beaches from the southern coast to the western coast had been damaged due to the debris which was washed ashore.
The government said a large number of marine life had been killed as a result of the pollution caused by the fire while the Fisheries Department has imposed a temporary ban on fishing from the southern coast to the western coast.
Over 1,000 people have been deployed to clean up the damaged beaches in the past days and people have been warned not to touch any of the debris as it could be harmful.
6月2日，斯里兰卡总统戈塔巴雅曾下令将起火货船拖向远离科伦坡港的深海区，以防引发更大的环境灾难。
然而很快，这一行动就被发现并不可行——斯里兰卡海军发言人称，因货轮船身后部已触及海床，试图将货轮拖向远离科伦坡港的深海区的行动被迫中止。
The craft began to sink early on Wednesday, and a salvage crew tried to tow the vessel to deeper water away from the coast, Fisheries Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a tweet, but the attempt was abandoned after several hours.
“The towing of the fire-engulfed X-Press Pearl ship was stopped due to the rear end of the vessel hitting the sea bed,” navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told Reuters.
Photos taken by the country’s air force showed the charred wreck of the ship spewing white smoke as it listed to the right and began sinking, and part of it soon touched the seabed, just 22 meters (73 feet) deep in the immediate area.
目前，针对货轮起火原因的调查还在进行中。