Raging tanker fire off Sri Lanka sparks oil spill fear

COLOMBO: A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned out of control for a second day off Sri Lanka yesterday, raising fears of a major new oil spill in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lankan navy and India coastguard fired water cannon while an air force helicopter dropped water on the drifting New Diamond.

More Indian navy vessels were heading to the scene to help fight the blaze on the tanker, which was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude and 1,700 tonnes of diesel.

One Filipino crew member was confirmed to have died in an engine room explosion on Thursday which sparked the alert, the Sri Lankan navy said.

The other 22 crew — five Greek and 17 Filipino — were taken off the 330m-long vessel and the fire had not spread to the cargo by mid-morning yesterday, officials said.

The oil tanker was on its way from Kuwait to the eastern Indian port of Paradip when it issued a distress signal 60km from Sri Lanka’s east coast.

As the fire grew, the stricken vessel drifted about 10km closer to the shore, Sri Lankan officials said.

India’s coastguard said there was a 2m crack in the New Diamond’s hull about 10m above the water line.

Both India and Sri Lanka have deployed reconnaissance planes to track the oil tanker, officials said. However, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said there was no immediate danger of a spill.

“It is not as bad as it seems,” DMC head Sudantha Ranasinghe said.

“The fire has not spread to the cargo. Once the fire is put out, the vessel will be towed further away into deeper waters.”

He said authorities were considering a ship-to-ship transfer of the crude before salvaging the tanker.