COLOMBO: Sri Lanka began towing a fully loaded supertanker on fire off its east coast after it began drifting towards land, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman said on Friday.
The fire was still raging on the New Diamond tanker carrying about two million barrels of oil, said the spokesman, Captain Indika de Silva. There were 23 crew on board, one of whom is presumed dead, while the rest have been rescued from the ship.
There were no signs of an oil leak from the vessel, he added. Ships from the Russian navy and Indian coastguard have been assisting in the firefighting. The fire that broke out in the engine room on Thursday morning had spread to the bridge of the ship, chartered by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sailor presumed dead
Initially, the ship was stranded 38 km east of the Sri Lankan town of Thirukovil, but drifted within 25 km of the coast after being abandoned. Authorities were now towing it eastward, away from the coast, de Silva said.
“The missing Filipino sailor is presumed dead. He was badly injured when a boiler exploded,” de Silva told Reuters, citing crew who were rescued. “There were five Greek and 18 Philippine nationals among the crew. One of them was injured and he was airlifted out of the ship and the rest were accounted for.”
The ship had sailed from the port of Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, loaded with Kuwait Export Crude. It was heading for the Indian port of Paradip, where IOC has a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery.