Daijiworld Media Network – Singapore

Singapore, Sep 23: Singapore-based X-Press Feeders has refused to pay the US $1 billion compensation ordered by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court for the 2021 MV X-Press Pearl disaster, calling the ruling a threat to global maritime trade.

Chief executive Shmuel Yoskovitz told AFP the company would not comply with the “open-ended” penalty, warning it “undermines the limitation of liability on which the whole base of maritime trade is built” and could “set a dangerous precedent.” The court had directed an initial payment of $250 million by Tuesday and left room for further damages.

The MV X-Press Pearl sank off Colombo in June 2021 after a fire—likely sparked by a nitric acid leak—burned for nearly two weeks. Its hazardous cargo, including acids, lead ingots

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