SLCG RESPONDED PROMPTLY TO MINIMISE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE OF MUTHURAJAWELA OIL SPILL

On receipt of the information from Ceylon Petroleum Corporation about the suspected oil spill from a pipeline carrying oil to the Muthurajawela Oil Refinery Complex on 08th September 2018, SLCG deployed oil spill response teams with equipments to Dikowita and Uswetakeyyawa area while two ships which are donated recently by the Japanese Government, Sri Lanka Coast Guard ships ‘Samaraksha’ and ‘Samudra Raksha’ sailed to the suspected area to assess the situation and expedite the cleaning up process.

At present Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Army, Marine Environment Protection Authority and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) personnel are engaged in cleaning up operations at coastal line from Dikovita to Uswetakeiyyawa area.

Sri Lanka coast guard works for the prevention, reduction, control and management of marine pollution through oil/chemical spill and intends to achieve the above objective through skills development of the staff to respond and manage oil/chemical spill incidents in the territorial waters of the country and equip response teams with modern international standard technical equipment to counter the increasing threat of marine pollution.