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Across the world, rainforests are sanctuaries of Biodiversity. From Orangutans in the Bornean Rainforest to Jaguars and Anacondas in the Amazon, to Red Slender Lorises and Green Pit Vipers in our very own Sinharaja. This high level of species richness as well as the high level of genetic diversity within these populations means that rainforests are a cornerstone of global conservation efforts. In fact, it is reported that more than half of the world’s plant an animal species live within

Round-Up of Events So Far 19/ 05/ 2021 – The ship was at an anchorage 9.5 nm (nautical miles) off Colombo Harbour. 20/ 05/ 2021 – SL Navy and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) are on board to inspect it. A fire is caused by a chemical reaction due to alleged bad packaging of cargo. A distress call was sent by the ship in the afternoon. 21/ 05/ 2021 – Vessel states that all precautionary steps were taken to contain the fire. 22/ 05/ 2021 –

Part I The Beginning of the End Sri Lanka has had a spate of vessel-induced pollution in her waters. Recently, MT New Diamond registered in Panama caught fire on 03rd of September, 2020. Sri Lanka is yet to receive compensation from it. So, X-Press Pearl joins the saga in May, 2021 amidst that. The vessel X-PRESS PEARL (IMO: 9875343, MMSI 563118200) is a Container Ship built in 2021 and was sailing under the flag of Singapore. It was carrying 1,486 containers containing

Part II: International and Domestic Legal Instruments on the Liability of the Parties This article will explore the liability of the following parties to determine what are the legal implications of the incident. A) The shipowner and operator (X-Press Feeders and Master of the Ship) B) Flag state C) The Charterer (Shipper) and The Packaging company D) Port state A. Ship Owner and Operator ( X-Press Feeders) and Master of the Ship Due Diligence of the Captain – s 23, Marine Pollution Prevention Act (MPPA) 2008 Every

PART III: Learning in Progress The issues connected to this disaster will continue to manifest with time and we ought to look at every step in order to identify where we fell short of preventing the disaster and mitigating the impacts. Therefore, this section will look at the general liabilities of the Port States and the Coastal States under international law and the lessons learnt so far from the events that occurred leading to the sinking of the ship. We will