Insurers of burnt container ship make interim payment to Sri Lanka for cleanup, compensation
The insurers of X-Press Pearl ship, which caught fire and sank off the western coast of Sri Lanka two years ago, have made an interim payment to the Sri Lankan government, a minister said Sunday.
Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told local media that the payment will cover the cost incurred by the Maritime Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) for the beach clean-up operations and compensation for the fishermen affected by the maritime disaster.
Sri Lanka’s treasury has received 890,000 US dollars and 16 million rupees (around 49,400 dollars) as the interim payment, the minister said.
The second interim environmental assessment report compiled by the MEPA-convened expert committee priced the environmental damage from the X-Press Pearl disaster at 6.4 billion dollars.
The ship, registered under the flag of Singapore, caught fire near Colombo Port in May 2021 when carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tons of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics.Source: Xinhua
Sri Lanka seeks US$17 million from Greek ship owner over oil spill
Sri Lanka on Friday (Apr 9) lodged a claim for US$17.38 million with the Greek owners of an oil tanker that caught fire and left a spill stretching 40km off the South Asian island.
The New Diamond vessel was travelling from Kuwait to India with 270,000 tonnes of crude oil on board last September when a fire broke out as it passed Sri Lanka’s east coast.
The crude being carried as cargo was unaffected by the blaze, but some of the tanker’s fuel leaked into the Indian Ocean.
Its skipper was fined US$65,000 in October for causing the spill and failing to inform local officials of the environmental damage left behind.
Authorities are now seeking compensation from Greek firm Porto Emporios Shipping for the damage.
“The attorney-general forwarded the marine pollution claim for 3,423 million rupees (US$17.38 million) to lawyers of the owners of MT New Diamond in respect of the oil spill caused in September,” the office of Sri Lanka’s state prosecutor said in a statement.
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Officials said about 400 to 480 tonnes of fuel had leaked from the Panamanian-registered ship.
Firefighters led by India’s coastguard as well as the Indian and Sri Lankan navies succeeded in putting out the blaze before the vessel was towed to the United Arab Emirates.
Porto Emporios paid Sri Lanka US$2.38 million for extinguishing the fire.
The blaze started after an engine room boiler exploded, killing one crew member. The remaining crew of 22, including the skipper, were rescued.
Source: AFP
Deutsche Bank invests in Sri Lanka
Deutsche Bank today announced it is investing in Sri Lanka and launching a major push into the corporate client market, with the rollout of a new digitally-enhanced foreign exchange (FX) platform.
The rollout marks the bank’s first step in introducing a comprehensive suite of digital FX solutions for our corporate clients in Sri Lanka.
Deutsche Bank Sri Lanka Chief Country Officer Vikas Arora said: “We are investing in our Corporate Bank business in Sri Lanka. As international supply chains gravitate toward settlements in local currency, we are pleased to cater to our clients’ requirements.”
E-commerce customization is driving a change in payments currency, and increasingly international supply chains across Asia are demanding banks and payment service providers enable local currency payment.
“Clients are challenging the historical trend of settling payments in USD between two Asian markets, as they become more aware of the layers and costs in their payment chain. As a result, clients are demanding cheaper and faster ways of delivery, which our digital FX platform Autobahn is enabling,” he said.
By mid-year Deutsche Bank Sri Lanka will be on par with other Deutsche Bank branches across Asia where clients can pay in local currency between two Asia markets, reducing the FX execution costs to a single conversion along with a faster delivery between the branch network.
Last month the bank hosted clients at an outlook forum in Colombo where the new digital offering was launched.
“The launch of the upgraded Autobahn FX in Sri Lanka is the foundation for expanding our digital payment, collection and hedging capabilities to better serve our clients’ local currency needs both onshore and overseas.
“In addition to introducing the enhanced FX platform, we are also extending FX API technology to local clients. This means they can connect our platform into their own direct sales eCommerce infrastructure, while we support them in pre and post trade activities,” Arora added.
Globally Deutsche Bank most often sees API used by clients to expand their own B2B and B2C sales offering by introducing a wider range of currencies for online transactions. This gives end customers more choice around payment currency and often local currency is preferred, given USD currency movement can affect price point.
More upgrades are planned in the rest of the year to further enhance the foreign currency payment offering for both inbound and outbound payments in Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR).
The Sri Lanka branch rollout of the digital FX platform follows the launch of an online payments facility for customs and excise for importers toward the end of 2019.
Deutsche Bank has operated in Sri Lanka since 1980, providing banking and financing solutions to multinationals, large local corporates and financial institutions, ranging from cash management, FX, custody and trade finance. This year Deutsche Bank is proud to celebrate its 40th anniversary in Sri Lanka.