The beaches of Sri Lanka are popular for their beauty and scenery. The country has been in the news recently because of the possibility that a fire-ravaged cargo ship (MV X-Press Pearl) slowly sinking off its coast about 9.5 nautical miles northwest of Colombo is leaking oil. It was reported that the fire, which erupted on May 20, 2021, destroyed most of the ship’s cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals. There are concerns that debris from the fire has already polluted nearby beaches and that a spill of residual chemicals and oil from the ship could devastate marine life. See here and here for more information about this story.
