With the blaze finally put out after 12 days, the authorities said they were turning their attention to probing the cause of the fire and placing accountability for it.
The X-Press Pearl is operated by the Singapore-based X-Press Feeders. Flying a Singapore flag, the ship was carrying 1,486 containers and had 25 tonnes of nitric acid, other chemicals and cosmetics on board.
It was on its way to Singapore from the port of Hazira in India, via Colombo, when the fire broke out.
The company now faces criminal charges under Sri Lanka's Marine Pollution Prevention Act of 2008, and civil claims will be made subsequently as penalty for the pollution damage caused.
"From the very first day, we have been collecting data regarding the ship and the pollution. After we settled the immediate issue of the fire and the safety of the crew, it is high time we take legal action," Dr P. B. Terney Pradeep Kumara, general manager of Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority (Mepa), told The Straits Times.
Mepa has lodged a complaint with the Harbour Police in Colombo.
A police spokesman said the police will start taking statements from the ship's captain and crew, now that they are out of quarantine, which was required under Covid-19 protocols.
X-Press Feeders said in a May 31 statement that "select seafarers have been helping local police with their enquiries into the fire and are cooperating with investigators. We will respect this process and not publicly discuss operational details until the investigation has been completed".
"We are focused on the ship not informing (the authorities about) the possible pollution, and compiling reports on the pollution they have caused. Normally, the ship captain is culpable," he added.
"At the moment, the fire is under control and there is no sign of an oil spill," said Mr Dan Malika Gunasekera, a maritime lawyer in Sri Lanka and former executive director of the Ceylon Shipping Corporation.
He added that Indian and Dutch fire-fighting teams were working to cool the vessel down and take out the bunker oil.
But the chemical dispersants used to douse the fire and toxic chemicals in the containers have already affected the sea and coast.
<p>epa09236611 Sri Lanka Air force personnel wearing protective clothing collect and clear the beach areas from debris and other materials from damaged containers on the burning cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl, off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 30 May 2021. A fire broke out on a Singapore-flagged container vessel MV X-Press Pearl anchored about 9.5 nautical miles (18km) northwest of Colombo awaiting entry into the port nine days ago. The Sri Lanka Navy said an explosion caused by the chemicals being transported on the ship, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid and other chemicals loaded at the port of Hazira, India on 15 May. The 25-member crew including Philippine, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals were evacuated by the Navy on 25 May, while two injured members were hospitalized and one was tested positive for Covid-19 on 26 May. EPA-EFE/CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE</p>
PHOTO: EPA
Dr Kumara said: "The underwater area is still inaccessible because of the ship's condition and the water is also turbid there."
The extent of the damage is still difficult to estimate. "It will take some months to fully assess it," he added.
Tiny plastic pellets called nurdles, used in plastics manufacturing, have also spilled from the burning ship and spread along Sri Lanka's western coastline.
This kind of waste is challenging to clean up and dangerous to fish as it blocks their airways, and will be factored into the probe.
Mepa told AFP that the plastic waste caused "the worst beach pollution in our history", and warned it could cause years of ecological damage.
<p>Residents collect debris washed ashore from the burning Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl, which has been burning for the seventh consecutive day in the sea off Sri Lanka's Colombo Harbour, on a beach in Colombo on May 26, 2021. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP)</p>
PHOTO: AFP
Apart from marine damage, the fisheries ministry is also assessing the expected losses to 4,500 fishermen and the seafood industry in Negombo.
Fishing has been banned in an 80km stretch of the coast where the chemicals and pellets have washed up.
After the Greek oil carrier New Diamond caught fire in September 2020 off the coast of Sri Lanka, Mepa took legal action.
The Sri Lankan Attorney-General charged the ship's captain with causing an oil spill and sought a fine of US$1 million (S$1.3 million), which the Colombo High Court reduced to US$65,000.
