Sri Lanka: Oil slick spotted a kilometre from stricken MT New Diamond

Sri Lankan Navy on September 8 said that an oil slick has been spotted a kilometre away from a loaded supertanker off the country’s east coast, as efforts to extinguish a fire onboard continued. The fire onboard oil tanker MT New Diamond was doused on September 6 before it reignited on September 7 due to prevailing intense heat onboard. Sri Lankan officials are currently working to assess any damage to the environment and marine life from the incident.

Speaking to International media reporters, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Indika de Silva said that the ship had tilted slightly towards where the fire broke out due to a large amount of water sprayed to douse the fire. Elaborating further, he said that the oil in engine room also appears to have leaked out to the sea. The supertanker is currently being held at some 40 kilometres east of the island nation with multiple firefighting boats continuously spraying water to douse the fire, de Silva added.

Read: ICG Hands Over 1500 Kg Of DCP To Sri Lankan Officials For Fire-fighting On MT New Diamond

Read: Sri Lanka: Massive Fire On A Stricken Oil Tanker Extinguished, One Dead

One dead 

One Filipino crew member has died after the boiler in the main engine room burst into flames causing the fire. All other persons on board, 22 in total, have been successfully rescued from the vessel that is reported to be loaded with 270,000 metric tons of crude oil

According to reports, a salvage team was currently working on-site and “additional assets, salvage personnel and fire fighting equipment" were currently on their way to reach the charred ship. In addition, the Sri Lankan government has deployed scientists and researchers from Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA)tasked with examining the area around the ship and nearby coastal areas for the sign of pollution, Jagath Gunesekara, Deputy General Manager of MEPA, said.

The large 333-metre long crude carrier is carrying over three lakh metric tons of crude oil for the Indian Oil Corporation from Kuwait to Paradip. ICG ships Sujay, Shaurya, Sarang and pollution response vessel Samudra Paheredar are continuously engaged in the firefighting operation on rotation, using a specialised external firefighting system, a statement from ICG said.

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Read: Ships, Aircraft Fight New Fire On Oil Tanker Off Sri Lanka

(Image credits: Indian Coast Gaurd/Twitter)