The MT New Diamond was carrying 270,000 metric tons of crude oil from Kuwait to India.
New Delhi:
Another fire has broken out in the fully loaded supertanker that caught fire just a few days ago off the coast of Sri Lanka, the Indian Navy said today. Efforts to control the fire have intensified.
Firefighting equipment and additional assets and personnel are en route to control the fire.
“A reignition of the fire was observed on the starboard (right) side of MT New Diamond. Fire suppression and boundary cooling efforts were intensified to control the fire. Rescue team has arrived on scene. Additional assets , rescue personnel and FF equipment also en route, “the Navy spokesman tweeted along with photos of the rescue operations.
The Navy tweeted photos of the tanker that caught fire a second time.
The MT New Diamond, a very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) chartered by Indian Oil Corporation, was carrying 270,000 metric tons of crude oil from Kuwait to India’s Paradip and caught fire Thursday. With the help of the Indian Navy, Sri Lanka managed to put out the fire last week and tow the ship away from land.
He was being escorted by INS Sahyadri, the Navy had said.
The tanker had 23 crew members: 18 Filipinos and five Greeks. Twenty-two of the 23 crew members had been safely rescued from the tanker: a Filipino sailor was killed in the boiler explosion in the engine room.
A spill from the ship could cause an “environmental disaster”, Ashok Sharma, managing director of the BRS Baxi shipping brokerage in Singapore, had warned the Reuters news agency last week.
The fires come just over a month after a state of “environmental emergency” caused by the spill of some 1,000 tons of fuel oil from a Japanese bulk carrier, MV Wakashio, when it ran aground on a reef in Mauritius.
.
