Sri Lanka oil tanker fire: There is no oil spill, says Indian Coast Guard

The fire that was raging on the mammoth oil tanker floating in Indian Ocean has been doused. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday said that there was no oil spill in the Indian Ocean. ICG on Thursday tweeted and said 22 lives were saved as the firefighting operation went on for last 6 days. ICG attributed the success to a fast, swift and professional firefighting.

"Swift Prompt & Professional #FireFighting over period of 06 days by #ICG doused raging fire in mammoth 333m ship without any oil spill averting major disaster. Efficient #SAR coordination ensured 22 lives saved. #ICG ships standby in Pollution Resp configuration," tweeted Indian Coast Guard.

The oil tanker MT New Diamond carrying about 3,00,000 tonnes of crude oil caught fire on September 3 after an explosion in its engines room. The oil tanker was 37 nautical miles off Sri Lankan coast at the time.

A firefighting operation was launched together by Sri Lanka and India after Sri Lanka requested assistance in dousing the fire.

The fire, which was brought under control reignited on Monday. However, even those flames were extinguished on Wednesday.