The Attorney General has filed a claim in the High Court of Singapore over the X-Press Pearl incident involving six defendants, the President’s Media Division said.

A case conference hearing took place on May 15 and the next date is scheduled for June.The case conference hearing was taken up before the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 15th May 2023, and a further follow-up on the said case conference has been scheduled for 01st  June 2023. The Attorney General’s Department is currently exploring the possibility of transferring the case to the Division of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) under the Rules of Procedure of the SICC, a PMD release said.The litigation of the X-Press Pearl Incident is being handled by a Singaporean Legal Firm, appointed and retained with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, to represent the interests of the Government of Sri Lanka.

On 20 May 2021, the Singapore-flagged vessel caught fire and sank off the west coast of Sri Lanka. It carried 1,488 containers, including 81 with dangerous goods, 25 tonnes of nitric acid, 348 tonnes of oil, and up to 75 billion small plastic pellets known as nurdles.Since then the disaster has had a significant impact on Sri Lanka’s delicate coastal environment, local communities and economy, wiping out a large number of marine species.