New stowage recommendations for plastic pellets — known as nurdles — have been agreed in the wake of the X-Press Pearl container ship disaster off Sri Lanka.
Nurdles are lentil-sized pellets that are the building blocks for plastic products. Packed with chemicals, they are often mistaken for food by marine life and can break down into smaller microplastics.
The 2,756-teu X Press Pearl (built 2021) grounded and suffered a catastrophic fire off Sri Lanka in 2021.
