Warrant issued to arrest burned ship X-Press Pearl

The Colombo Commercial High Court today (07) issued a warrant order to arrest the MV Express Pearl which caught fire near the Colombo harbor.

The order was handed down by Trico Marine Services Limited, the freight handling company in a case filed in the Colombo Commercial High Court over non-payment of compensation for six containers transported onboard the ship, the first time the ship has been seized since the accident.

Trico Marine Services, which delivers service forwarding goods sent by Sri Lankan workers in the Middle East, to their families claims 128,000 kilograms weighed goods of Sri Lankan workers to their families were in these six containers. Although Trico company has demanded US $ 600,000 in compensation, the owners of X Press Pearl have declined to pay it so far. Dr. Dan Malika Gunasekara, Attorney At law and a well-known legal expert in commercial shipping filed a case on behalf of his client and requested an arrest warrant to detain the ship until the due amount is paid.

Dr. Gunasekera stated that the ship was ready to be removed and to be scrapped for metal with the assistance of the relevant insurance agents and requested the court to arrest the ship until the relevant amount is paid. He further said the order will be sent to the Director-General of Merchant shipping who is the competent person and would be taken into custody accordingly.