Sri Lanka Has "Better Control" Over Fresh Fire on Supertanker, Navy Says

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Sri Lanka has "better control" over a fresh fire on a loaded supertanker off the island nation and is looking for any signs of potential oil leaks from the ship. 

A fire first broke out last Thursday in the engine room of the very large crude carrier New Diamond and spread to the bridge of the vessel, which was chartered by Indian Oil Corp for importing 2 million barrels of oil from Kuwait. 

That blaze was doused on Sunday. However, new flames erupted on Monday.

The re-ignition of the fire occurred on the "right side of the vessel near the funnel at the rear," and is not near the tanks carrying crude oil, Navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva said. 

De Silva said that the fire was still burning but the fire fighting team has better control of the blaze. 

"All members of the salvage team have arrived at the scene as more boundary cooling efforts are being done," he said, adding "additional assets, salvage personnel and fire fighting equipment is on the way." Sri Lanka has deployed scientists and experts from its Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to assess the environmental damage caused by the fire. 

One team will examine the ocean area where the burning ship is located and another is examining the coastal areas in the island’s eastern seaboard for signs of pollution, said Jagath Gunesekara, deputy General Manager of MEPA. 

The New Diamond is about 30 nautical miles, or about 56 km (35 miles), east of Sangaman point, Sri Lanka's easternmost point. Gunesekara said the experts will assess if the oil leaked from vessel into the sea or damage the beaches and marine life. 

(Reporting by Arjuna Ranawana; Writing by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Categories: Salvage Maritime Safety Firefighting Oil Tankers

Related Stories

CNOOC Finds Oil and Gas in South China Sea

Valeura Makes Progress with Multi-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Santos and QatarEnergy Agree Mid-Term LNG Supply

Petrovietnam, Partners Sign PSC for Block Off Vietnam

Japan Protests China’s New Oil and Gas Construction Activities in East China Sea

Thailand's PTT to Buy LNG from Glenfarne's Alaska LNG Project

Yinson Production, “K” LINE Target Europe's CCS with FSIU and LCO2 Solutions

Woodside Agrees Long-Term LNG Supply with Petronas Unit

Wood JV Gets EPC Job for Shell off Brunei

French Oil Major Acquires Interests in Multiple Blocks in Southeast Asia

Current News

EnQuest Picks Up Offshore Oil and Gas Block in Brunei

CNOOC Finds Oil and Gas in South China Sea

Seatrium Makes First Turnkey FPSO Delivery to Petrobras

KBR-SOCAR Joint Venture Secures Work for BP in Azerbaijan

Baker Hughes, Petronas Team Up for Asia-Pacific Energy Resilience

EnQuest Acquires Harbour Energy’s Vietnamese Assets

Woodside Finds South Korean Partners to Advance LNG Value Chain

Valeura Makes Progress with Multi-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Santos and QatarEnergy Agree Mid-Term LNG Supply

PTTEP Hires Energy Drilling’s Rig for Southeast Asia Offshore Job

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com