Explosion on burning container ship carrying Nitric Acid

Explosion on burning container ship carrying Nitric Acid. An explosion occurred Tuesday on a ship anchored near Sri Lanka’s capital on which a fire had been burning for several days, prompting the crew’s evacuation, officials said. A fire continued to burn aboard a container ship carrying chemicals off the coast of Sri Lanka on May 26, six days after it first broke out. The container vessel MV X-Press Pearl was anchored about 9.5 nautical miles northwest of Colombo and waiting to enter its port when the fire erupted four days ago, the Sri Lankan navy said. It said it believes the fire was caused by chemicals being transported on the Singapore-flagged ship. The ship was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals which it loaded at the port of Hazira, India, on May 15, it said. The vessel’s 25-member crew includes Philippine, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals. Rescuers have evacuated all crew from a container ship off the coast of Sri Lanka as a fire on board intensified and two people were injured, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan Navy said on Tuesday. An explosion was reported from within the vessel, Navy spokesman Indika De Silva said, adding that an air force helicopter was using dry chemical powder to douse the fire. The MV X-Press Pearl, a container ship sailing with a Singaporean flag and carrying cosmetics and chemicals including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, was anchored off Colombo when a container caught fire on Friday, officials said. Navy spokesman Capt. Indika de Silva said crew members and salvage and firefighting experts evacuated the ship after the explosion. Several containers also tumbled into the sea, he said. Aerial photos released by Sri Lanka’s air force showed the vessel engulfed in flames and thick smoke. High winds intensified the blaze, Silva said.