A Singapore-registered ship’s Sri Lanka agent paid US$1 million out of US$1 billion damages awarded for causing the island’s worst pollution, a litigant said on Wednesday.
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The Sea Consortium (Private) Limited made the token payment in “good faith” as it did not have the financial capacity to fully cover the damages.
A petitioner who brought action against the MV X-Press Pearl, which sank off Colombo Port in June 2021, said he had been officially informed of the payment.
“I was given a copy of the affidavit of Sea Consortium [to the court] after it paid 300 million rupees (US$1 million) to the Treasury,” environmental activist Hemantha Withanage said.
“They have done this because the court held them responsible for any non-compliance by the Singapore owners.”
The move came as the owners of the X-Press Pearl said that they would refuse to pay the massive damages.
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