shipwreck-X-PRESS-PEARL

According to Maritime Publications I’ve read
” Seafarers lives are not valued- even by their own companies”.

Shipping standards are unenforced, and as the Pearl demonstrated- (virtually) no protocol for vessel emergencies.

It’s not as if “the Pearl” was a 50-year-old rust bucket that hit a reef and sank, this was a brand-new container ship that wasn’t allowed to dock at either Qatar or India – forced to cross the Arabian sea, (while on fire) -desperate for any semblance of safe harbor.

This environmental (catastrophe) shipwreck- only stayed in headline news for a couple days.

After burning for two weeks

25 tons of nitric acids and (worst-case scenario) heavy metal chemicals poured into a pristine underwater reef on Sri Lanka.
The captain and crew abandon ship.

Along with the bunker fuels and everything else, the ship was transporting billions of virtually indestructible micro plastic “noduals” that last for 100+ years.

Was the acid transported in ISOtank containers- or dry boxed as regular freight-to save money?

Ultimately- poor packaging was probably to blame for the on-board fire, however
 marine life and local fisherman pay the full cost in death and starvation- the remarkable life they knew-is gone.

The Pearl was forced to travel another 2464 nautical miles (over open seas), because an entire industry knew “exactly” what would happen next.

Marine insurance companies made their gruesome calculations, and another impoverished, remote, beautiful place gets “enviro-bombed” off the map.

Yesterday’s news already- (it wasn’t in your backyard) 
 unless of course you mean- EARTH.

John V Thomas
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