Death of turtles caused by X-Press Pearl - AG

• Radio recording machine in the Harbour Master’s office contains all telephone messages given by the captain of stricken vessel

An expert committee appointed by the Marine Environment Protection Authority has revealed that the death of  turtles and other fish reported in recent weeks was due to environmental damage caused by the burning and sinking of the X-Press Pearl vessel, the Attorney General informed Court yesterday (30).

Deputy Solicitor General Madhawa Tennakoon made these remarks when the magisterial inquiry into the fire ravaged container ship was taken up before Colombo Additional Magistrate Lochana Abeywickrama.   
Tennakoon submitted to court that a large number of sea creatures including 176  turtles, 20 dolphins and four whales have been found dead so far as a result of the fire and the sinking of the vessel.  

The Deputy Solicitor General said the remarks made by some individuals to the effect that the death of marine species most likely was due to the high tide season, were unacceptable.  

The Deputy Solicitor General further stated that investigations are being carried out in 26 Magistrate’s courts island wide to ascertain the reason for the deaths of sea creatures and parts of the carcasses have been referred to the Government Analyst Department in order to obtain analytical reports.  

He further stated that investigations are being carried out into the deaths of sea creatures through a number of institutions including NARA and the Institute of Industrial Technology.  

Meanwhile, the Deputy Solicitor General further stated that an investigation is underway into the radio recording machine in the office of the Harbour Master at the Port of Colombo in connection with the fire.  

President’s Counsel Sarath Jayamanne appearing for Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the Local Agent of the X-Press Pearl stated that the radio recording machine in the Harbour Master’s office contained all telephone messages given by the captain of stricken vessel.  

Jayamanne said that although he had requested the CID to check the messages contained in the machine from the beginning, the CID had not paid any attention to it.  

He said it was surprising to be told that the data on the machine had now been erased.  

Meanwhile, the report submitted by the CID to the court has revealed that there was a technical fault in the radio recording machine.  

Further magisterial inquiry into the matter was fixed for July 13.   

• sea creatures including 176  turtles, 20 dolphins and four whales have been found dead so far