By Nishel Fernando

Pointing at safety standards recommended by Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), Sri Lanka’s shipping industry stakeholders urge the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) to ensure minimum safety standards at the Port of Colombo, in order to avoid future catastrophe similar to X-Press Pearl (XP).

The TSIB, which is the air, marine and rail accidents and incidents investigation authority in Singapore, has made several safety recommendations to the SLPA in its final report ‘FIRE ONBOARD X-PRESS PEARL AT COLOMBO ANCHORAGE’, released late last year.

X-Press Pearl, which was carrying several containers of epoxy resin plastics, caused an overwhelming economic, social and environmental impact to Sri Lanka in 2021, as the ship caught on fire and subsequent sinking. The report highlighted the rather limited support of Sri Lankan authorities in diffusing the situation, partially due to the limited firefighting capabilities of the SLPA.

“The response from Colombo Port Control to assist XP was deemed limited. There was no follow-up after a team of firemen had assessed the situation onboard XP. The tugs sent for firefighting had various limitations, which did not offer continuous firefighting support. The Master did not receive answer from Colombo Port Control on the several requests made for urgent berthing before the fire went out of control,” the report outlined.

In addition to the tugs being used for port operations halfway during the firefighting operation, the report noted that there was difficulty in positioning the tugs for firefighting while some tugs were not able to provide sufficient water pressure to reach the top of the containers or even onto the main deck of the ship and some tugs had engine/machinery problems that required repairs, thus, causing a break in firefighting efforts.

“It was also evident that some of the tugs were not dedicated for firefighting and hence had their limitations to fight the fire effectively. The investigation team noted from several accounts that of all the tugs (eight), which rendered firefighting assistance, only ‘Hercules’ was effective in firefighting efforts,” it added.

At the request of the SLPA, the India Coastal Guard (ICG) deployed ICG ships Vaibhav101 and Vajra102 for the firefighting operation. The ICG ship Samudra Prahari was on standby for pollution response and the ICG aircraft Donier performed air reconnaissance for pollution detection.

“Almost every (cargo) ship arrives in Colombo has dangerous good. The terminals have special areas to handle these goods. On ground, terminals are quite equipped to handle any incident, in particular CICT and SAGT. However, out on sea, it’s the responsibility of the SLPA. There’s a huge vacuum. As a hub port, you need to be equipped to handle such unfortunate incidents. You need to be prepared for contingencies,” a shipping agent remarked.

The dangerous goods handling has become a lucrative revenue stream for the port.

The TSIB recommend the SLPA to review its plans for supporting a response to a shipboard fire by ensuring that the tugs assigned for firefighting are fit for purpose and dedicated in performing firefighting [TSIB Recommendation RM-2023-19].

If the SLPA is unable to facilitate these crucial safety measures, the industry players stressed that the SLPA should handover this function to the private sector.

“If the SLPA is unable to facilitate these safety measures, then they must hand it over to the private sector through an open tender process. Somehow, these minimum safety standards need to be assured,” they said.

With East Container Terminal (ECT) and West Container Terminal (WICT) coming into operations soon, they pointed out that it’s crucial to ensure these safety standards.

“In order to attract new services, we (shipping agents) need to go canvassing. However, minimum safety standards are a must for us to go out and bring in new services confidently,” they added.

The SLPA officials were not immediately available to comment on the matter.

In addition to the safety standards, the TSIB has also recommended the SLPA to take appropriate steps for ensuring the voyage data recorder (VDR), when recovered, is made available to the flag state for the conduct of safety investigation, as required by the IMO Guidelines on VDR ownership and recovery (MSC/Circ.1024). [TSIB Recommendation RM-2023-20].