X-Press Pearl was a Singapore-registered Super Eco 2700–class container ship. The vessel entered service in February 2021 and was around long. It was operated by X-Press Feeders.
Timeline 10 May 2021 – X-Press Pearl arrived at Jebel Ali Port, United Arab Emirates, where cargo including a container carrying nitric acid was loaded. The vessel departed Jebel Ali for Qatar at approximately 15:00.
11 May 2021 – The vessel arrived at Hamad Port, Qatar. During cargo operations, the crew identified a leak from nitric acid container FSCU 7712264. The master requested that the damaged container be discharged, but the request was refused because specialist facilities and expertise to handle the leaking hazardous cargo were not available.
15 May 2021 – The vessel called at Hazira Port, India, where a further request was made to discharge the leaking nitric acid container. The request was also refused for the same reason: the port did not have the specialist facilities or expertise immediately available to handle the leaking container. The vessel departed Hazira later that day bound for Colombo.
19 May 2021 – X-Press Pearl arrived off Colombo, Sri Lanka, and anchored outside the harbour. Sri Lankan authorities inspected the vessel and cleared it while it remained at anchorage.
20 May 2021 – Within hours of the inspection and clearance, yellow and brown fumes were observed and a fire broke out on board the vessel while it was anchored off Colombo.
20 May – 2 June 2021 – Firefighting and salvage operations continued as responders attempted to control the fire.
2 June 2021 – Salvors attempted to tow the vessel away from the coast into deeper water. The towing operation was abandoned after the vessel's stern hit the seabed, and X-Press Pearl subsequently sank off Colombo.
According to X-Press Feeders,X-Press Pearl Incident Information Centre, X-Press Feeders. Update, 4 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022. salvage operations to remove the wreck began in November 2021. All work on site is expected to be completed by April 2023. Salvage work was interrupted during the southwest monsoon from late April to November 2022.
According to a 2021 United Nations report, it was the largest recorded plastic spill, releasing about 70–75 billion nurdles that take centuries to degrade.
Construction and operational history X-Press Pearl was built by Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard Co. Ltd at Zhoushan, China for Singapore-based X-Press Feeders, along with its sister ship X-Press Mekong. The 37,000-deadweight tonne (DWT) container vessel could carry 2,743 twenty-foot equivalent units. The ship was launched on 28 September 2020 and delivered on 10 February 2021.
The vessel was deployed on the Straits to Middle East (SMX) service of X-Press Feeders, from Port Klang (Malaysia) via Singapore and Jebel Ali (Dubai, UAE) to Hamad Port (Qatar). The return voyage to Malaysia was via Hazira (India) and Colombo (Sri Lanka). The vessel had made three voyages, calling at Colombo on 17 March and 18 April, and caught fire shortly after arriving for its third call at the port on 19 May.
Fire X-Press Pearl carried 1,486 containers, with contents including 25 tons of nitric acid (which can be used in the manufacture of fertilisers and explosives), other chemicals, cosmetics and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets, when it departed the port of Hazira on 15 May 2021, arriving off Colombo on 19 May. By 11 May the crew had discovered that a container loaded at Jebel Ali was leaking nitric acid, and had requested both Hamad and Hazira ports to allow it to be offloaded, but permission was not granted. According to X-Press Feeders, the requests were denied as "there were no specialist facilities or expertise immediately available to deal with the leaking acid", and the vessel proceeded on its planned journey to Colombo.
The ship reached Colombo on the night of 19 May and was anchored in the outer harbor awaiting a berth. According to the Harbour Master the ship did not initially declare an emergency for the cargo acid leak. On 20 May the ship's agents requested a re-working of the container. Harbour Master Nirmal de Silva said as a maritime hub, Colombo had the expertise to help. The vessel then issued its first report of a fire, which the crew had put out using its on-board system.
Requests for urgent berthing The final investigation report by the Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) found that the master of X-Press Pearl made multiple requests for urgent berthing at the Port of Colombo after the leak was discovered onboard. These requests were not approved, and the vessel remained at anchorage while the situation deteriorated. The report concluded that the lack of timely approval for berthing limited firefighting and emergency response options, as operations at anchorage were more constrained than they would have been alongside a berth. The TSIB noted that earlier access to port facilities might have improved firefighting effectiveness and emergency management, potentially mitigating the escalation of the fire.
Sri Lanka Navy and Ports Authority inspection According to statements by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, a joint inspection team boarded X-Press Pearl on 20 May 2021 following reports of a chemical leak. After conducting their assessment, the team concluded that there was no immediate danger and therefore did not recommend emergency berthing or escalation of response measures at that time. Subsequent investigations and reporting indicated that this assessment underestimated the severity of the developing situation, as the fire intensified shortly thereafter, ultimately leading to the vessel’s loss.
It was reported that the ship caught fire on 20 May, northwest of the Colombo Port. The Sri Lanka Navy, along with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which boarded the ship in order to find out the cause of the fire, suspected that the fire might have started as a result of the reaction of chemicals being transported on the ship. During the fire incident, the vessel had a crew of 25 members on board.
Though initial reports linked the incident to leaking acid, Harbor Master De Silva said the fire had broken out in the number 2 hold of X-Press Pearl while the container was stacked on deck. A fuller investigation was needed to determine the cause, he said.
On 25 May, a large explosion took place inside the vessel and all 25 crew members were evacuated. Two Indian crew members who sustained injuries during the explosion were admitted to the Colombo's National Hospital of Sri Lanka.
The fire continued to blaze during 25 May, and by late afternoon containers were dropping off the vessel into the sea. The Sri Lanka Maritime Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) declared a Tier II oil spill event from on-board bunkers as the blaze got worse. India dispatched firefighting and pollution control Coast Guard vessels, a tug and a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft to help containment measures, and fishermen were asked to stay clear of the ship.
Chairperson of MEPA Dharshani Lahandapura said on 26 May that 378 tonnes of oil were on board the vessel and about half could leak into the sea after the fire ended. Bad weather prevented the deployment of oil-containment booms around the ship, but authorities were ready to clean up any oil that reached the shore. By morning, burnt debris and some fallen cargo were washing up on Sri Lanka's Negombo coast. On 29 May, X-Press Pearl was still smouldering and belching smoke, though flames were down. Hull integrity was still intact. Firefighting tugs continued to pour water on the ship. The Sri Lanka Air Force dropped dry chemical powder. The Indian Coast Guard vessel ICG Samudra Prahari, a pollution control ship, joined the task force. By the morning of 30 May, the fire was mostly out and water was still being sprayed. X-Press Feeders said salvors were looking at boarding the vessel to set up a tow connection. Salvors boarded the vessel on 1 June for the first inspection. Salvors found the engine room flooded and smoke still coming out from cargo hold 1, 2 and 3 intermittently.
Rescue operations On 21 May 2021, Sri Lankan Navy deployed two offshore patrol vessels, naval ships such as and along with an aircraft in firefighting rescue operations which went in full swing despite inclement weather conditions surrounding the area. It was revealed that the fire had been brought under control on 21 May and the cooling efforts were continued to prevent the fire from flaring up. On 22 May, the Sri Lanka Air Force deployed a Bell 212 helicopter in the rescue operations. Out of the 25 evacuated crew, two were in the hospital. On 25 May, India dispatched ICG Vaibhav, ICG Dornier and Tug Water Lilly to help the Sri Lankan Navy extinguish the fire. India's specialised pollution response vessel Samudra Prahari arrived on 29 May. India had named the rescue efforts Operation Sagar Araksha 2.
On 2 June 2021, X-Press Feeders issued a statement saying the company "regret[s] to report that despite salvors successfully boarding the vessel and attaching a tow wire, efforts to move the ship to deeper waters have failed".
The ship remains in deep water. Most of it is submerged, and the site is continuously monitored by a dedicated ship.
Indian Coast Guard assessment The Indian Coast Guard's After Action Report on Operation Sagar Aaraksha-II identified several operational lessons from the X-Press Pearl incident. It emphasised the importance of coastal states maintaining adequate capability to respond to incidents involving hazardous and noxious substances (HNS), including specialised pollution response vessels, trained personnel, and equipment for chemical incident management.
The report stated that early assessment and prompt specialised response are critical to preventing escalation in such incidents, and highlighted the need for preparedness in handling hazardous cargo fires, including monitoring, containment, and environmental protection measures.
The report did not explicitly criticise Sri Lankan authorities, but it described the incident as demonstrating the importance of regional cooperation, with India deploying multiple assets in support of response efforts at the request of Sri Lankan authorities.
Environmental damage Sri Lanka's Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) said it was assessing the environmental damage and collecting evidence. Plans were made to submit an interim claim. Plastic resin pellet pollution from spilled cargo was washing up on Sri Lanka's beaches from 27 May. LDPE pellets have also been washed onto nearby land. According to MEPA, there were three containers of plastic pellets on board the ship, each weighing .
Independent review of MEPA assessment
In December 2025, marine ecologist Amelia S. Wenger published an independent technical review titled A Review of the Sri Lankan Marine Environment Protection Authority’s 2nd Interim Report of the Environmental Damage Assessment of the MV X-Press Pearl Maritime Disaster. The review examined the scientific basis of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) of Sri Lanka’s Second Interim Report on the environmental impacts of the 2021 MV X-Press Pearl maritime disaster.
Wenger assessed whether the environmental impacts claimed in MEPA’s report were supported by documented evidence, evaluated the transparency and reproducibility of the scientific methods used, and identified data gaps relevant to environmental accountability and compensation claims.