Sri Lanka Navy says the towing of the damaged ‘MV X-Press Pearl’ has been halted as part of the ship’s bottom is striking the seabed. 

Navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva said that so far, no leakage of fuel from the vessel has been observed. 

Towing operations of the Singapore-registered container ship began this morning (June 02) after a naval team joined the salvor team on board to tow it away to deeper waters.

However, it was later reported that a major part of the fire-stricken cargo ship had begun to sink as the ship was being towed

Reports revealed that water leaking into the vessel has caused around 50 per cent of the vessel to sink.

On Tuesday (June 01), the salvor team members had boarded the container ship after dousing the inferno. Salvage operations are being led by the Dutch company SMIT, which had sent specialist fire-fighting tugs.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had yesterday directed the Chairman of Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to tow the vessel into deeper seas in order to prevent further marine pollution. 

(Picture Below) Brave navy sailors boarding the wereched ship this morning amid refusal by salvage experts. Photos: SLN