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Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the local agent of the MV X-Press Pearl, has informed the Supreme Court through an affidavit that its directors and principal executive officers, on their own, lack the ability and resources to raise a sum of USD 250 million to make the first tranche payment required by the Supreme Court judgement delivered in connection with the X-Press Pearl disaster. In the affidavit, Arjuna Indrajith Tissera, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, stated that Sea Consortium Sri Lanka, together with its directors and principal executive officers, will continue to make every endeavour within their means to ensure that the Supreme Court’s order is honoured in full. The Fundamental Rights petitions relating to the X-Press Pearl disaster were called before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Shiran Goonaratne, Achala Wengappuli, and Priyantha Fernando. Senior Counsel Dr. Ravindranath Dabare, Himalee Kularathna, and Nilshantha Sirimanne, appearing for the petitioners, informed court that the respondents, including Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, had so far failed to comply with the directives and orders issued by the Supreme Court on July 24, 2025. They submitted that, according to the judgement, Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd was required to make its first installment payment of USD 250 million before September 23, 2025, but failed to do so, thereby violating the court’s order. They further submitted that those responsible for violating the court’s order should be dealt with for contempt of court. However, Justice Achala Wengappuli observed that punishment was not the key issue, but rather the recovery of payment as ordered by the judgement. Deputy Solicitor General Madhawa Tennakoon, appearing for the Attorney General, informed court that necessary measures had been taken to establish the MV X-Press Pearl Compensation Commission and that investigations were ongoing in accordance with the court’s directives. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court directed the Attorney General to update the court on January 26 regarding the steps to be taken against the companies that failed to comply with the court’s order to pay compensation for damages. By applying the 'Polluter Pays' principle, the Supreme Court ordered non-state entities including Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the local agent of the MV X-Press Pearl, and affiliated companies such as X-Press Feeders to pay an initial sum of USD 1 billion in compensation for the damage caused to Sri Lanka’s environment and economy.