By Doug Helton, Office of Response and Restoration
On May 20, 2021, The X-Press Pearl caught fire and after 12 days sank off the coast of Sri Lanka. All of the containers were lost or damaged. The sinking has raised lots of concerns over the ship’s fuel and the hazardous materials on board, as well as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets. These pellets, also known as pre-production plastic pellets, are the raw material for manufacturing plastic bottles and other containers. Some of the pre-production plastic pellets containers ruptured and coated nearby beaches with tiny pellets.