Reignited fire aboard the MT New Diamond contained; Sri Lanka Navy

by Zulfick Farzan 09-09-2020 | 10:13 AM

Colombo (News 1st); Disaster management teams successfully brought the fire, which reignited aboard MT New Diamond as a result of adverse weather, under control during the early hours on Wednesday (09th September 2020).

There are no flames or smoke to be noticed as of now and the distressed ship is being towed further away towards safe waters by a tug, said the Sri Lanka Navy.

Accordingly, the distressed oil tanker is now about 37 nautical miles off Sangamankanda Point and the disaster management operation is continuing at full steam in rough sea conditions and strong winds.

Further, a narrow diesel oil patch extending to one kilometer away from the ship was observed on Tuesday (08) evening.

In such circumstances, a Dornier aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard was flown to the site to airdrop diesel dispersant to minimize the potential impact on the marine environment.

Also, a Marine Research Ship owned by the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) has arrived in the sea area and is conducting further studies regarding the case.

MEPA Chairman Darshini Lahandapura speaking to News 1st said the expert team collected samples from the sea area where the distressed vessel is located at, and those samples were brought ashore.

The samples obtained by MEPA will be sent to laboratories for testing to determine if any damage was caused to the marine environment, said Darshini Lahandapura.

Under the directives of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne another specially trained Firefighting and Disaster Management team from the Sri Lanka Navy is scheduled to set off to the site on Wednesday (09th September 2020).

They would board the ship to review its present standing and gather specifics to decide the future course of action, once the disaster situation on the ship is completely under control.

Meanwhile, the disaster management operation is continuing with the unwavering contribution of ships, tugs and aircraft hurried by Sri Lanka Navy and the rest of the partners in the mission.

This collaborative effort also receives ample support from the foreign salvage and disaster management teams.

In this backdrop, the Sri Lanka Navy remains vigilant to the future development of the incident and will continue to work in close coordination with the partners in the mission until the disaster situation is completely resolved.