X-Press Feeders is pausing its payouts in the wake of Sri Lanka’s worst environmental on record. The former operator of the container ship X-Press Pearl and its insurer said they have taken into account a July ruling by the country’s Supreme Court, which ordered payment of $250 million as the first tranche of a $1 billion interim compensation order today (September 23).

Sri Lanka’s Supreme in a judgment dated July 24, 2021 directed the relevant parties in the X-Press Pearl incident to pay $1 billion in compensation within a year. first tranche of $250 million should be paid before September 23, 2025. A further $500 million should be paid within six months the judgment and the balance of $250 million within a year.

“While we respect the judicial process, this ruling means that there may be an additional payment ofeterminate amounts. The enforcement of this judgment for any payment out may set a dangerous precedent for future maritime incidents,” said Shmuel Yoskovitz, CEO of XPress Feeders. “It is of the utmost importance that any payment out should have an underlying merit, be proportionate and in line with international conventions.”

The X-Press Pearl, a brand-new 2,700 TEU feeder container ship, caught fire on May 20, 2021, off Sri’s western coast, subsequently docked at Sri Lanka’s western coast, before sinking. The vessel was carrying 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals and ,486 containers [about 1,500 containers were burnt! Shipowner and related parties fined $1 billion]. The incident caused Sri Lanka’s worstever marine pollution disaster, with hundreds of tons of plastic pellets washing up on the country’s beaches.

X-Press Feeders said that, to date, it paid over $170 million for wreck removal, environmental remediation and claims. The company reiterated its concerns over the detention of the master of the vessel and its local agent Sri Lanka, who, due to a court-imposed travel ban, has been unable to return home for over four years, while its local agent has been facing repeated investigations, arrests court cases over an incident they had no decision-making authority over.

“We are willing to enter into direct dialogue with the relevant Sri Lankan authorities and have been seeking to engage with their representatives. We hope to reach an outcome based on evidence, fairness, reasonableness and in line with international practice,” X-Press Feeders said

The compensation award relates primarily to the environmental impact and cost arising from the leakage of between 700 billion and 750 billion plastic pellets from the on the X-Press Pearl when it sank. “It has caused unprecedented damage to Sri Lanka’s marine environment, resulting in loss, damage, injury, and harm to marine environment, to the inestimable treasure house of marine ecosystems, to marine flora and fauna, and to coral reefs,” the judgment read