Sri Lanka Navy Says No Real Risk Of Spill After Oil Tanker Fire

A navy spokesmans stated there have been 23 crew on board, considered one of whom is presumed lifeless.

Colombo:

There isn’t any actual danger of a spill from a completely loaded supertanker that caught fireplace off the east coast of Sri Lanka, a senior official within the Indian Ocean nation’s navy stated on Friday.

The fireplace that broke out within the engine room of the New Diamond on Thursday morning had unfold to the bridge of the ship, carrying about 2 million barrels of oil, although it has not reached the cargo space, the Sri Lankan navy stated.

Director-General of Operations Rear-Admiral Y N Jayarathna informed reporters it was the navy’s view that there was no actual hazard of a spill, as a result of the fireplace on the ship has been contained within the rear part of the vessel.

“The live flames have now died down and there is only white smoke emanating from the vessel,” he informed a televised press convention.

A navy spokesman, Captain Indika de Silva, stated there have been 23 crew on board, considered one of whom is presumed lifeless. The relaxation have been taken off the ship by the Sri Lankan navy, with one injured crew member flown to the capital Colombo for therapy.

Three tug boats, 5 Sri Lankan navy ships in addition to two craft from the Russian navy and three from the Indian navy have been helping in an operation to combat the fireplace and tow the ship away from the coast, after it started drifting in the direction of land.

At current the vessel is being held by the salvage crew in deep sea 35 kms (21.7 miles) east of the Sri Lankan city of Pottuvil, de Silva stated.

Initially, the ship was stranded 38 kms (24 miles) east of the city of Thirukovil, however drifted inside 25 kms of the coast after being deserted. Authorities have been now towing it eastward, away from the coast, de Silva stated.

Thirukovil is a city in Sri Lanka’s Ampara district that was badly battered by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Arugam Bay, a world-renowned browsing spot, is close by.

“The missing Filipino sailor is presumed dead. He was badly injured when a boiler exploded,” de Silva informed Reuters, citing crew who have been rescued.

“There were five Greek and 18 Philippine nationals among the crew. One of them was injured and he was airlifted out of the ship and the rest were accounted for.”

Sri Lanka’s meteorology division had already modelled the influence of 70,000 tonnes of crude oil – 1 / 4 of the ship’s cargo – spilling into the ocean.

The simulation, a worst case situation in response to authorities, discovered that such a spill wouldn’t instantly threaten the nation’s east coast.

But Dharshani Lahandapura, chair of Sri Lanka’s federal Marine Environment Protection Authority, informed Reuters that any spill from the ship can be catastrophic for marine life. “It will be a huge environmental and economic disaster if this happens,” she stated.

The 1989 oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, thought of one of many worst human-caused environmental disasters, spewed about 37,000 tonnes of crude into waters off Alaska.

The 20-year previous New Diamond, chartered by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), had sailed from the port of Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, loaded with Kuwait Export Crude, Refinitiv Eikon monitoring information confirmed. It was heading for the Indian port of Paradip, the place state-run IOC has a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

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