Microplastic Cleanup Underway In Sri Lanka

COLOMBO(News 1st) - Cleanup operations are ongoing in Sri Lankan coastal areas following the maritime incident involving the cargo vessel MSC ELSA 03, which encountered an issue off the coast of Kerala, India, on May 25, 2025.

The vessel, sailing under the Liberian flag, was transporting 643 containers when it suffered a breach approximately 38 nautical miles off the Kerala shoreline. 

The incident led to the release of microplastic fragments and other marine debris, which have since washed ashore in various parts of Sri Lanka.

According to Jagath Gunasekara, Director General of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), cleanup efforts are actively underway today in the Puttalam and Galle coastal regions. These efforts follow earlier operations in Jaffna and Mannar, where debris had already been removed.