Colombo/Singapore, Sept. 23 (Agencies) — Singapore-headquartered shipping company X-Press Feeders has announced it will not pay the US$1 billion fine imposed by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court over the 2021 X-Press Pearl maritime disaster, which caused the island nation’s worst environmental catastrophe.
In an interview with AFP, CEO Shmuel Yoskovitz argued the penalty undermined international maritime law. “We are not paying because the whole base of maritime trade is based on the limitation of liability. This judgment undermines this limitation,” he said, warning it could set a “dangerous precedent” that would raise global shipping insurance costs and burden consumers.
The MV X-Press Pearl, a Singapore-registered container ship, sank off Colombo in June 2021 after a two-week fire, reportedly triggered by a nitric acid leak. Its cargo included 81 containers of hazardous materials and hundreds of tonnes of plastic pellets, which washed ashore along an 80-kilometre stretch of Sri Lanka’s western coastline, devastating fisheries and forcing months-long fishing bans.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court in July ordered the company to pay an “initial” US$1 billion within a year, starting with US$250 million due by September 23, with further payments to be determined later. The court also empowered authorities to launch criminal proceedings for non-compliance.
Yoskovitz rejected the open-ended nature of the ruling but insisted the company was not shirking responsibility. He said X-Press Feeders had already spent US$170 million on wreck removal, seabed cleaning, and compensation for fishermen. “We are willing to pay more, but it has to be under marine conventions and a final amount. To live under this hanging guillotine is simply impossible,” he said.
The company has also expressed concern over its Russian captain Vitaly Tyutkalo, who has been barred from leaving Sri Lanka for more than four years. Attempts to secure his release by offering fines were rejected, according to Yoskovitz.
Environmental activists, however, stress that the damage is far from over. “If you visit the coastlines today, there is nothing visible in terms of plastic pollution. But the effects of the disaster will last for decades,” said Hemantha Withanage from the Centre for Environmental Justice.
Legal battles remain unresolved. While London’s Admiralty Court capped the company’s liability at £19 million (US$32.9 million) in 2023, Sri Lanka has contested the ruling. A related lawsuit filed in Singapore’s International Commercial Court has been stayed pending the London case, with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for May 2026.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court is set to review the enforcement of its ruling on September 25.