More than 43 containers filled with plastic pellets that washed ashore after entering the sea from the sunken ‘MSC Elsa 3’vessel have been collected so far, according to the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA).
The plastic pellets continue to wash ashore along the coastline from the Jaffna islands to Galle, with the situation worsening due to monsoon weather conditions, MEPA Chairman Samantha Gunasekara said.
Around 1,800 workers have been deployed for the removal of the plastic pellets, and the related costs will be covered by the shipping company responsible for the vessel, he added.
Meanwhile, steps are being taken to assess the compensation required for the damage caused to Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem due to the sinking of the vessel. A special expert committee appointed for this purpose also met recently.
The Liberia-flagged container ship ‘MSC Elsa 3’ sank on May 25, 2025, after experiencing water ingress about 38 nautical miles off the Kerala coast in India. At the time of the incident, the vessel was carrying 643 containers.
