Sri Lankan Supreme Court applies polluter pays principle in X-Press Pearl maritime disaster case
In June 2025, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court rendered a historic decision: the application of the polluter pays principle for the environmental destruction caused by the wreckage of the X-Press Pearl ship off the country’s coast . Requiring the ship’s operator and insurer to pay an initial sum of US$1 billion, this is a landmark judgement in international environmental justice and sets a legal precedent at the national level. For the first time an environmental disaster is treated as a crime in a court of law. At the international level this case marks a critical step toward holding corporations accountable for maritime environmental destruction.
Collecting nurdles from X-Press Pearl spill – Sri Lanka’s fight for polluter pays compensation
The largest recorded marine plastic spill in the world
On May 20th 2021, the Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire a few kilometers from the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. When he learned of the vessel’s dangerous cargo, Hemantha Withanage, Chair of the Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ) / Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka, immediately warned the media and the parliament about what was at stake.
The ship was transporting hazardous chemicals, including twenty-five tonnes of nitric acid and more than 80 billion plastic pellets, also known as nurdles. After days of battling the fire, the ship exploded on May 25th, releasing the hazardous cargo into the ocean and eventually sinking on June 2nd. The consequences of the wreckage were immediate: chemicals spread through Sri Lanka’s waters and waves of nurdles washed ashore along the country’s western, southern and northern coastlines. The Sri Lankan government quickly asked the fishing communities to stop their activities due to the expected high levels of pollution.
The spill’s damage extended far beyond the visible pollution. Marine life suffered greatly: more than 170 turtles, 20 dolphins and 4 whales were found dead on Sri Lanka’s beaches in the weeks following the spill.
Subsequent studies from CEJ reveal that the whole ecosystem was damaged, with extreme levels of chemicals found in small fish, crabs and other crustaceans, threatening the livelihoods of the local fishing communities in the long term.
The Sri Lankan Supreme Court delivers a landmark application of the polluter pays principle
Facing the unprecedented disaster, local communities and organisations demanded a fair judgement and reparation.
While CEJ had raised the alarm about the potential danger of the burning ship, they also mobilised for justice in the aftermath. Within days of the sinking, they filed a case with the Sri Lankan Supreme Court alongside two members of the fishing communities. Over the next four years of trial the organisation played an instrumental role in documenting the impacts of the disaster on the environment in two reports and outlining the overall damage. Witnessing the resulting expected long term pollution in the region, CEJ advocated for environmental justice and the rights of future generations throughout the court case.
The judgement rendered in June 2025 by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court is a cornerstone of environmental justice not only in Sri Lanka but across the globe. The ruling on the largest recorded marine plastic spill is the first concrete application of the polluter pays principle for a case of this scale. It sets a legal precedent that allows corporations to be held accountable. The judgement not only contributes to the recognition of ecocide as a crime but also centres the impact of the pollution on the livelihoods of local communities.
The court emphasised that the owner, operator and local agent of theX-Press Pearl had wilfuly concealed and failed to disclose critical, accurate, and complete information about the vessel’s condition upon its entry into Sri Lankan waters. In doing so, they hindered the local authorities from taking appropriate action to manage the onboard crisis and from implementing measures to protect Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystems and coastal communities. The court declared the ship’s owner, operator and local agent jointly and severally accountable and liable under the polluter pays principle for the pollution they caused. They also must make an initial payment of US$1 billion to the Sri Lankan state. This historic judgement sends a clear message: corporate impunity for international polluters is beginning to suffer serious setbacks.
The fight continues, transnational corporations must be held accountable for their actions
While the verdict is clear, X press Feeders – the corporation owning the X-Press Pearl ship – and their insurers continue to refuse to pay. The legal case is secured, now comes the time to enforce it. The overall destruction cannot be addressed without adequate funding, and peoples like the fishing communities are still waiting for the compensation they are entitled to.
Friends of the Earth International joins CEJ and other organisations and affected communities calling for justice. Transnational corporations must be held accountable and pay for the damage they cause, everywhere and without exception. We urgently need an international legally binding instrument to regulate transnational corporations with respect to human rights to ensure access to justice for affected communities and an end to corporate impunity.
