Sri Lanka oil tanker fire: No oil spill, boundary cooling operation in progress

Fire at MT New Diamond is under control and the oil tanker that has been on fire since Thursday afternoon, is currently being held in position by a tug boast 42 miles from the Sri Lankan Coast. This is being done to prevent the drifting of the vessel towards the shore and to facilitate fire-fighting operations with logistical ease. Six vessels from the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), their helicopters, two Dornier aircrafts and one warship of the Indian Navy are on location to undertake this mammoth effort. No oil spill has been so far reported and fire is localised.

Response ship Samudra Paheredar arrived at the scene of incident on Sunday afternoon and joined the fire fighting operation. The ship is equipped with Ocean Boom, 4 Oil Skimmers and oil spill dispersant to handle pollution response in event of an oil slick.

ICG Ships Sujay, Shaurya, Sarang and pollution response vessel Samudra Paheredar are continuously engaged in fire fighting operation on rotation using specialised external fire fighting systems. ICG fast patrol vessels Ameya and Abheek are in close vicinity to offer assistance as required. Both these vessels are equipped with aqueous film forming foam concentrate (AFFF), dry chemical powder and oil spill dispersants.

Besides this, Sri Lankan Ships Samudra, Udara, SLCGS Samaraksha, SLCGS Samudra Raksha, SLN FACs P 462 and 464 alongwith INS Sahyadri are in the area.

Indian Coast Guard's Dornier aircrafts are performing morning and evening sorties from Mattala International Airport, Sri Lanka, for aerial assessment. Coast Guard helicopters that are on the ships are also being launched regularly for aerial assessment, planning the further course of action.

Sri Lankan Air Force is carrying out aerial recce with the help of Beachcraft planes. Water is being sprayed by MI-17 helicopter via Bambi Bucket.

The inertness of cargo is being maintained with sustained fire fighting operations. While no oil spill has been reported, fire remains localised and cargo hold is reported to be safe. Fire appears to be doused and no flame and smoke is visible. Continuous boundary cooling is in progress using AFFF and water spraying. No further increase in the crack or any significant change in trim or list has been observed.

Indian authorities are in continuously in co-ordination with Sri Lankan Navy/Coast Guard and other authorities for augmentation and effective response.

MT New Diamond is a very large crude carrier. It is a Greek-owned vessel and is under charter by Indian Oil.

The ship caught fire after a major explosion in its engine room on September 3.

The first information about the vessel being on fire was received at Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC) Mumbai.

MT New Diamond is reportedly carrying more that 2.7 lakh MT Kuwait export crude oil that was destined for Paradip, Odisha. According to Marinetraffic.com, MT New Diamond is a 20-year old Crude oil tanker that is 333 meters long and 60 meters wide.