The Singapore-registered X-Press Pearl had been on fire for almost two weeks before the blaze was put out this week.
Hundreds of tonnes of oil from fuel tanks could leak into the sea, devastating nearby marine life.
The Sri Lankan and Indian navies had worked jointly over the past days in an attempt to put out the fire and prevent the ship from breaking up and sinking.
But rough seas and monsoonal winds hampered the operation, just outside the port of Colombo.
