Ships, boats try to douse tanker fire off Lanka, 1 dead

Colombo, Sept. 4: A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned out of control for a second day off Sri Lanka on Friday as authorities confirmed a Filipino crew member was killed in an explosion in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lankan navy and Indian coastguard vessels fired water cannon at the blaze on the New Diamond, which issued a distress call on Thursday after its engine room exploded.

The fire had not spread to the 2,70,000 tonnes of crude and 1,700 tonnes of diesel the tanker is carrying, Sri Lanka’s navy said. “Preliminary information from the ship’s crew confirmed that a Filipino seaman on board had died in a boiler explosion,” the navy said in a statement. All but one of the 23-member crew — 18 Filipinos and five Greek nationals — were rescued. The tanker was about 60 km from Sri Lanka’s east coast when it sounded the alert and during the night drifted 10 km closer. Sri Lanka on Friday thanked India for its support. “We are receiving support from India and thankful to them,” Sri Lanka’s Army chief Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva told reporters.

Rear Admiral Nandana Jayaratne, the Director General, Operations, of Sri Lankan Navy, said there was no threat of an oil spill. “The Indian Coast Guard saw a crack right under the superstructure of the ship, but that does not mean the ship is falling apart and there will be an oil spill,” Jayaratne said. “We will need international support in the event of a spill,” Jayaratne said.