Sri Lanka is considering legal action against a local shipping firm if it does not remove the wreck of a Turkish ship that broke up while being towed ashore. Dhanapala Weerasekera, chairman of Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MPPA), said that Sri Lankan Shipping Company Ltd. had towed the abandoned Meliksah without any salvage contract from the owners or permission from local authorities. "As the unauthorized action... amounts to criminal negligence involving both civil and criminal liability, I will be seeking the approval of the ministry... to initiate action," he said. The Turkish vessel, which was carrying some 16,000 tons of fertilizer, was abandoned off Sri Lanka's southern coast last month after its engine room developed a leak and water began seeping in.