One of the crew members of the oil tanker ‘MT New Diamond’ caught up in fire was confirmed dead in an explosion in the main engine room, the Sri Lanka Navy said.
The deceased, a Filipino national, was reported missing following the fire that ignited in the Panama-registered oil tanker yesterday (03).
The fire raging on the ship has so far had no effect on the 270,000 metric tons of crude oil stored there and necessary steps are being taken to prevent the fire from spreading to those crude oil storage facilities.
Meanwhile, there is still no risk of the ship leaking oil into the ocean due to the unfortunate turn of events.
However, Sri Lanka Navy, the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and the Marine Environment Protection Authority and other stakeholders are geared up to take necessary steps to mitigate and manage the risk of a possible oil spill in the future due to this disaster
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard are currently engaged in a joint effort to control the fire raging in the oil tanker, caused by an explosion of a boiler in the main engine room.
At around 8.30 am yesterday, the oil tanker had been sailing 38 nautical miles off Sangamankanda Point east of Sri Lankan seas, when the unfortunate turn of events took place.
The Navy says an MI17 helicopter of the Air Force had carried out several aerial operations, until the nightfall yesterday, to control the blaze.
(LIN)