In May 2021, the X-Press Pearl  caught fire 18 km off the west coast of Sri Lanka and spilled 1680 tons of spherical pieces of plastic or “nurdles”; the preproduction plastic used to manufacture a wide range of end products.

The incident sparked world-wide attention to the environmental dangers posed by these little balls of plastic, which could lead to tighter international regulations for those involved in the shipment of this product.

In this episode, I speak to my partner at Bowmans, Lana Stockton, who has extensive experience responding to nurdle spills off the coast of South Africa. We discuss, amongst other things, the legal and practical implications for ship owners, charterers and other affected parties as they negotiate fines, clean-ups and other challenges with the authorities and regulators.