When X-Press Pearl, a huge container ship, caught on fire and eventually sank in May 2021, Sri Lanka was petrified thinking that the vessel’s 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil would leak into the Indian Ocean, resulting in an ecological disaster impacting the country’s fishing industry and coral reefs.
Classified by the UN as the “worst maritime disaster” of the country, the massive impact was not introduced by chemicals that were on board or heavy fuel oil. The most impactful and extensive damage,...