Fire on board oil tanker brought under control with India’s help: Lankan Navy


Team Udayavani, Sep 5, 2020, 11:11 AM IST

Colombo: The fire on board an oil tanker off Sri Lanka’s coast has been brought under control with India’s help and it was towed to the deep sea away from land, the Navy said on Saturday.

The ship was carrying 270,000 metric tonnes of crude oil from Kuwait to India. The Sri Lankan Navy on Friday confirmed that a Filipino sailor died in the boiler explosion in the engine room of Panama registered tanker MT New Diamond that caught fire on Thursday.

Indian ships were supporting the Lankan Navy to douse the flames on the tanker off the coast of Sangamankanda in the eastern district of Ampara.

“The fire on board MT New Diamond has been successfully contained to a greater extent and it lies about 35 nautical miles at 5:30 am. As a result of the combined operation, the ill-fated oil tanker has been secured from all sides.” the Lankan Navy said in a press release.

On Friday evening, a tug boat towed the tanker to the deep sea away from land, it said.

The Navy said they were assisted by the Air Force and the Ports Authority as well as the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard who were working jointly.

The disaster relief operation was joined by Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Sarang, ICGS Sujay, TTT One – a tug equipped with firefighting equipment and professional firefighters, and 02 Dornier aircraft of Indian Coast Guard since previous night, the release stated.

The tanker had 23 crew members – 18 Filipinos and five Greeks. Twenty-two of the 23 member crew had been safely rescued off the tanker.

“The fire has been contained by now and the Dornier aircraft is currently at the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport,” the Navy said.

The continuous cooling effect during the disaster relief operation has controlled the fire-spread, it said, adding that there is no risk of an oil spill so far

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Drugs worth Rs 6 crore seized in Bengaluru, five arrested

Siddaramaiah urges Nirmala Sitharaman to address NABARD’s loan cuts to farmers

Karnataka HC denies anticipatory bail to Prajwal Revanna in sexual harassment case

Delhi court stays defamation case against CM Atishi

Awards don’t create value for independent films in India: Manoj Bajpayee

Public Alert: Cyber fraudsters impersonating traffic police to demand fines

UP: 25 people booked for attacking civic officials for encroachment removal

Related Articles More

Bomb disposal squad tackles ‘security incident’ at UK’s Gatwick Airport

Baku climate talks: The ‘X’ factor that could determine future of Global South

India-US ties have strong foundation: White House confident in navigating crisis over Adani bribery charges

PM Modi leaves for home after concluding three-nation visit

China announces new policy measures to protect its exports from Trump’s new tariff threat

MUST WATCH

Christmas Cake Fruit Mixing

DK Shivakumar

Rose Cultivation

Geethotsava

Naxal Operation


Latest Additions

Air pollution: SC flags Delhi govt’s failure to implement GRAP-4 curbs on entry of trucks

Drugs worth Rs 6 crore seized in Bengaluru, five arrested

Siddaramaiah urges Nirmala Sitharaman to address NABARD’s loan cuts to farmers

Satwik-Chirag enter semifinals, Lakshya loses to Antonsen in China Masters

BJP stages protest against Congress govt in Karnataka over Waqf properties row

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.