COLOMBO: The Russian skipper of a container ship that caught fire and burned for almost two weeks before sinking off Sri Lanka’s coast has been arrested and is expected to be charged with marine pollution, police said Monday.

The island nation is seeking $40 million in damages from the operators of the ship, which released tonnes of plastic raw materials that swamped local beaches in what officials called the “worst marine disaster” in the country’s history.

Vitaly Tyutkalo, the captain of the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, was arrested at his hotel in the capital Colombo on Monday and faced the High Court before being released on bail.