The Indian coastguard tweeted that “no flame & smoke” was seen from the vessel.
Colombo:
A large hearth on a stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka’s coast has been extinguished, the island nation’s navy stated Sunday, as worldwide salvage consultants started to evaluate the harm over fears of an environmental catastrophe if there’s a leak.
The Panamanian-registered New Diamond, carrying over 270,000 tonnes of crude and diesel, was en-route from Kuwait to Paradip port when it issued a misery name Thursday after an engine room explosion that killed a Filipino crew member.
Sri Lanka’s navy chief Nishantha Ulugetenna stated the hearth on the tanker, which the navy chief and the Indian coastguard received below management on Friday — had lastly been put out.
“The hearth has been fully doused,” the vice admiral advised reporters in Colombo.
“The tanker’s (metal) plates are nonetheless very popular so there’s a danger of reigniting new fires.”
The Indian coastguard tweeted that “no flame & smoke” was seen from the vessel.
The announcement got here as Sri Lanka’s Catastrophe Administration Centre stated international salvage consultants and insurance coverage assessors had began analyzing the ship some 75 kilometres from the coast.
Ten British and Netherlands professionals with experience in rescue operations, catastrophe analysis and authorized session arrived earlier Sunday, the navy stated.
Dutch agency Smit Salvage had commissioned the consultants and was additionally sending two tug boats from Singapore and Mauritius, the navy added.
The Indian coastguard, which deployed six ships, an plane and a helicopter, added on Sunday that its air pollution management vessel had arrived on the web site within the Indian Ocean.
The rescue vessels are nonetheless dousing the tanker with water to forestall contemporary fires being ignited in heavy winds lashing the recent metal plates close to the burnt engine room.
The tanker had suffered a crack of its hull some 10 metres (33 toes) above the waterline because of intense warmth from the hearth, officers stated.
Authorities stated there was no oil slick and the crack was not thought of a catastrophic structural failure.
Sri Lanka’s Marine Surroundings Safety Company has stated that authorized motion may very well be taken in opposition to the homeowners, Liberian-registered Porto Emporios Transport Inc, “ought to the worst occur and the ship breaks up”.
The vessel is bigger than the Japanese bulk provider MV Wakashio, which crashed right into a reef in Mauritius in July leaking greater than 1,000 tonnes of oil into the island nation’s pristine waters.
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