Experts converge around stricken vessel amidst fears of a second wave of fire

Firefighters continue to spray water to cool the wreck of the MT New Diamond crude oil tanker after the fire that erupted there was extinguished around 3 pm yesterday after an arduous battle with the fire for nearly 79 hours. It was transporting 270,000 metric tons of crude oil from the port of Meena Al Ahmadi in Kuwait to the Port of Paradip in India when a fire broke out aboard in the eastern seas of the country on Sept 3 at around 0800 hrs. The ship was sailing 38 nautical miles off Sangamankanda Point, when it caught fire with an explosion in a boiler in the ship’s main engine room.

There was that possibility of oil super tanker MT New Diamond catching fire again although the Sri Lanka Navy and other disaster management teams had brought the fire onboard under control by 3.00 pm on Sunday (06), the Navy said.

The Navy has said, in a media statement, that due to the high temperature inside the ship and environmental factors, there is a possibility of the fire reigniting. Therefore, the vessels and craft dispatched for disaster management efforts continue to cool the tanker.

A team of 10 British and Netherlands experts, including salvage operation experts,insurance assessors and a legal adviser had arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday to assist with the operation. They were facilitated by the company that works as the commercial and technical operator of MT New Diamond.

Six foreign salvage operation experts have already been transferred by Sri Lanka Navy craft to the location and they are studying the situation.

Moreover the commercial and technical operator of the vessel had sent another team of 11 disaster management experts from the Netherlands, UK and Belgium to Sri Lanka yesterday morning (07). They too were transferred to the location of the vessel for an inspection by the Navy yesterday.

The ship is now 30 nautical miles (56 km) off Sangamankanda Point and salvage operations are currently underway. Ships including Indian and Sri Lankan ships, five tugs, aircraft of Sri Lanka Air Force and aircraft belonging to the Indian Coast Guard are carrying out the disaster mitigation efforts.

Even if the fire on the ship has been brought under control, the Sri Lanka Navy and other stakeholders will continue the disaster management operation until the risk of the ship catching fire again is completely eliminated.