Sri Lanka, July 24 -- The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today (24) ordered a shipping company to pay US$1 billion in compensation for the environmental and economic damage caused due to the fire onboard the X-Press Pearl vessel, Ada Derana reporter said.

The X-Press Pearl container vessel caught fire and sank off the coast of Colombo in 2021.

The incident is considered one of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history.

According to the Supreme Court's judgment, the compensation is to be paid to the Secretary to the Treasury.

The Supreme Court ruling states that the respondent should within one year from the date of the judgment, must make an initial payment of USD 1 billion and it can be paid in installments.

The Supreme...