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Sri Lanka has started towing an overcrowded tanker that is on fire off its east coast after the ship began to sink ashore, a Sri Lankan Navy spokesman said today.
The fire continues to burn on the New Diamond tanker, which carries about 2 million barrels of oil, spokesman Indica de Silva said. There were 23 crew members on board, one of whom is presumed dead, while the rest have been rescued. 
There is no sign of oil spill from the 330-meter-long vessel, the spokesperson added. Ships from the Russian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard are assisting in efforts to extinguish the fire.
The fire broke out in the engine room yesterday, Thursday morning, and has spread to the deck of the ship, chartered by the Indian Oil Corp (IOC). According to the Sri Lankan Navy, the fire has not spread to the ship’s cargo. 
The tanker was initially sailing unmanned 38 km east of the city of Thirukovil in Sri Lanka, but was abandoned and moved 25 km offshore. Authorities are now towing it east, off the coast, De Silva said.
“The missing Filipino sailor is considered dead.” He was seriously injured when a boiler exploded, “de Silva told Reuters, referring to the crew members who had been rescued.
“Among the crew there were 5 Greeks and 18 Filipinos.” One of them was injured and airlifted from the ship and the others are safe, “he added. 
The ship had set sail from the Kuwaiti port of Mina al-Ahmadi loaded with Kuwaiti crude, according to data from the ship-tracking app Refinitiv Eikon. It was heading to the Indian port of Paradip, where the IOC has a refinery.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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