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A container ship carrying chemicals near Sri Lanka has been burning for 6 days

Kelly McLaughlinMay 29, 2021, 15:32 IST

Business Insider

Smoke rises from a fire onboard the MV X-Press Pearl container in the seas off the Colombo Harbour, in Sri Lanka May 26, 2021.Sri Lanka Airforce Media/Handout via REUTERS

A container ship carrying chemicals caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka last week.
Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl was waiting to enter a port when it caught fire.
All of the ship's crew members have been taken to safety.

A container ship carrying chemicals has been on fire off the coast of Sri Lanka for six days.

The Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl - carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid - was waiting to enter a port in Colombo when it caught fire on May 18, the Associated Press reported.

Sri Lanka's navy believes the fire was caused by chemicals being transported on the ship, which was loaded in Hazira, India, on May 15.

X-Press Feeders, which owns and operates the ship, said its 25 crew members have been taken to safety..

Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Indika de Silva told the Associated Press that firefighters on tugboats and a naval ship are all trying to douse the fire.