20-Nov-2024
X-Press Feeders, former operators of the container ship X-Press Pearl, welcomes statements by Sri Lanka’s new government that there will be a renewed focus on the clean-up and compensation processes in the aftermath of the vessel’s fire and sinking event in May 2021, in the hope that bureaucratic and legal hurdles that have caused severe delays can now be overcome.
From the very start, the owners of the ‘X-Press Pearl’ have worked diligently to ensure the best response, clean-up, and claims process possible while abiding by international law. The owners undertook a comprehensive response at their own cost and expense to address the repercussions of the sinking of the X-Press Pearl. Experts in wreck removal, salvage, debris removal and disposal, pollution clean-up and control and other areas were retained from abroad so that the most effective international response could be mobilised. Despite the presence and advice of these international experts, the Sri Lankan government deemed that they should lead the shoreside clean-up, refusing to permit the owners to organise and pay for a contractor-led response to the beach clean-up operations, which, unfortunately, continue to this day. To date, the owner has paid over USD 150 million dollars for these response and clean-up operations. This includes not only the removal of the wreck and removal of debris on the seabed but also the claims made by the Sri Lankan Government.
These claims were assessed by an independent expert body acting as advisors to both the Government and the Owners. Payment has been made towards claims by the government to date on the response and clean-up operations in accordance with what these independent advisors consider to be fair and reasonable. All payments have been made to the Government of Sri Lanka’s Central Treasury Account following established law, in that claims incurred in Sri Lankan rupiah were paid in Sri Lankan rupiah and claims incurred in US dollars were paid in US dollars.
Recent media reports have specifically raised questions about compensation payments to the fishermen. Compensation claims were assessed by the independent advisors, and funds were allocated for the payment of these claims, with an initial claims payment totalling approximately USD 9.5 million paid by the Owners to the Sri Lankan Government’s Central treasury Account. Further payments were suspended when parties representing sections of the fishing community launched legal action against the government with submissions that indicated a disparity in what Owners have paid the Government of Sri Lanka and what has been released as payments to the fishing community. These proceedings are ongoing, so the suspension of payments remains in place.
There is ongoing legal action over this incident, and the owners have responded to these proceedings in the courts that the Sri Lankan government and other parties launched them. If the new Sri Lankan government is going to review these proceedings, then we appeal to them to also consider the ongoing legal action against the former captain of the X-Press Pearl, Vitaly Tyutkalo. Vitaly remains trapped in Sri Lanka under a court travel ban, unable to return home after more than three and a half years because of ongoing lengthy delays in the tabling of evidence in the government's case against him. He has missed a daughter's wedding and his other daughter's graduation and, like many others, continues to suffer because of unreasonable delays.