At the handover, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Holly said “Australia understands the challenging situation presented by the MV X-Press Pearl incident, and Australia stands ready to assist Sri Lanka”.

As Indian Ocean neighbours, Australia has a strong interest in the protection of Sri Lanka’s maritime domain against maritime disasters. The clean-up equipment provided included 11,000 coveralls and 1,000 gloves (manufactured in Sri Lanka by Australian company Ansell), and 30,000 facemasks, 200 goggles, 300 pairs of protective footwear and 200 helmets, valued at 20 million Rupees.