There are still clouds of black smoke over the burning oil tanker off the coast of Sri Lanka. The fire on the “New Diamond” is largely under control, but not yet extinguished, said the Inspector General of the Indian Coast Guard, KR Suresh, at a press conference in Delhi – India and Sri Lanka are working closely together on the extinguishing and rescue work.
“I think the fire will be under control tonight or by tomorrow at the latest. The fire brigades have been on duty for more than 72 hours and the fire has not spread,” said Kuresh.
Marine does not see an environmental disaster looming
In the engine room of the “New Diamond”, which is considered a very large oil tanker with a cargo volume of around 300,000 tons, there was an explosion two days ago, after which a fire broke out. However, there is no immediate danger of an environmental disaster, according to the head of operations of the Sri Lankan Navy, Rear Admiral Jayarathna.
“The Indian Coast Guard has reported to us that a crack can be seen in the ship. Such cracks are caused by the extreme heat. The fire is on the starboard side of the ship, directly under the superstructure. And if it burns longer, it deforms the steel plates and the welds break open, “says Jayarathna. But that doesn’t mean the ship is about to break apart and oil is leaking. There is no such risk at the moment. “
Two million barrels of crude oil loaded
The ship, which sails under the Panamanian flag, was chartered by the Indian Oil Company and was en route from Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip. According to the information, the ship has more than two million barrels of crude oil on board and large amounts of diesel fuel.
Break still worst scenario
“The worst scenario would be that the fire cannot be extinguished and it continues to burn for five or six days. Then the ship could break up and tip over. Should that happen, we have to put oil barriers around the entire ship,” said Rear Admiral Jayarathna.
The cause of the fire in the engine room is not yet known. One of the sailors, who was apparently near the explosion, was reported to have died. 22 other members of the ship’s crew, including Filipino and Greek citizens, were rescued.
