Indictments served on X-press Pearl Captain, four others

The Colombo High Court yesterday served indictments to five accused including the Captain of X-press Pearl vessel which was carrying Nitric Acid and other chemicals before it caught fire and sank off in the seas near the Colombo harbor.

The case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Damith Thotawatta.

The indictments were served over the case filed by the Attorney General against eight accused including the captain of the X-Press Pearl vessel, Russian citizen Vitaly Tyutkalo, who was the captain when the vessel caught fire while transporting 186 containers, including several containers containing chemicals.

The case had been filed against right accused including the captain of the vessel, Vitaly Tyutkalo, a Russian national, the local representative company of the vessel, C Consortium Company and its director, Arjuna Indrajith Thisera Hettiarachchi and when the case was taken up yesterday some accused of the case was unable to appear before the Court.

After considering the absentia of the accused, the Colombo High Court Judge ordered the accused who were absent yesterday to appear before the Court on next trial day.

The case has been filed against the eight defendants under eight charges under the Prevention of Marine Pollution Act and the Penal Code.

At a previous occasion, the captain was arrested by the CID and produced before the High Court stating that he had neglected responsibility for the incident.