The London P&I Club, the insurer acting on behalf of the owners of the sunken MV X-Press Pearl, is escalating its efforts to engage Sri Lankan authorities after the country’s Supreme Court ordered an unprecedented $1 billion compensation payment for environmental and fisheries losses linked to the 2021 shipwreck off Colombo. According to comments provided to The Maritime Executive, the Club is now appealing to the UK government to intervene, warning that the standoff threatens both international shipping norms and a fair, evidence-based claims process.
The X-Press Pearl—a newly built, 2,750-TEU containership owned by Singapore’s X-Press Feeders—caught fire and subsequently sank in May 2021 after a leaking container loaded with hazardous cargo began emitting fumes shortly after the vessel departed Jebel Ali. Its cargo included 25 tons of Iranian-manufactured nitric acid alongside various dangerous goods. After being denied refuge in both Qatar and India, the ship anchored off Colombo, where a fire ignited in Hold No. 2. To this day, investigators have not conclusively determined the fire’s cause or origin.
Once the blaze intensified, reports indicate delays in deploying firefighting assets and in granting permission to tow the vessel into deeper waters—by the time specialized Sri Lankan and Indian response teams arrived, the situation was unrecoverable. The vessel ultimately sank, releasing or submerging acids, caustic soda, epoxy resin, plastic pellets, and bunker oil. Sri Lankan officials later collected over 1,075 tons of debris from beaches while reporting dead turtles, dolphins, whales, and significant fish kills. However, a clear scientific link between the casualties and the shipwreck remains unconfirmed. As a precaution, authorities temporarily banned coastal fishing and restricted the area for salvage operations.
In July 2025, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a human rights case brought by local fishermen. The Court condemned both X-Press Feeders for insufficient transparency and the Sri Lankan government for its sluggish response, assigning an arbitrary $1 billion compensation figure—despite not hearing expert evidence on damage quantification—and directing a committee to establish additional liabilities.
Although X-Press Feeders and the London P&I Club have already funded clean-up operations, beach restoration, fisheries support, and salvage activities, they have refused further payments. They argue that Singapore holds jurisdiction over environmental liability and that Sri Lanka’s damage calculations rely on “theoretical estimates” and “unapproved methodologies.” They cite technical guidance from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), which outlines globally accepted frameworks for assessing oil spill impacts, chemical pollution, microplastics damage, fisheries and consumer exposure risks, and marine wildlife losses.
The London P&I Club has since sought UK government backing to reopen dialogue with Sri Lanka, which maintains that it will not revisit the Supreme Court’s decision. At present, neither country’s government appears to be communicating directly on the issue.
James Bean, CEO of the London P&I Club, told The Maritime Executive that pursuing a negotiated, rules-based settlement remains the only viable path forward for both Sri Lanka and the global maritime sector. He emphasized that the Club and X-Press Feeders aim to resolve the matter in a manner that aligns with international legal norms and ensures fairness for all stakeholders.
