China News Service, September 3 (Reuters). On the 3rd local time, a spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Navy said that a tanker carrying a large amount of crude oil caught fire off the country's east coast, causing concern.
According to reports, the spokesperson said that the ship that caught fire was the "New Diamond" tanker chartered by the Indian Petroleum Corporation (IOC). The fire has been brought under control and one of the 23 crew members was injured.
Another spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Navy, Ranjith Rajapaksa, said that the super-large tanker caught fire about 20 nautical miles from the east coast of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan military has dispatched an aircraft and two ships to assist in the rescue. .
He stated that the information he had received was that 22 people were on board and 1 was missing.
Data shows that the tanker is loaded with 270,000 tons of oil, equivalent to about 2 million barrels of oil, and departs from Ahmadi Port in Kuwait to Paradip Port in India.
The Indian Petroleum Corporation operates an oil refinery with a daily output of 300,000 barrels at the port.
According to Indian media reports, Sri Lanka’s marine protection department said it would take measures to prevent any possible oil spills from tankers.
According to previous reports, more than a month ago, a Japanese bulk carrier "Wakao" ran aground on a reef in Mauritius, causing the leakage of about 1,000 tons of fuel, triggering the country into an "environmental emergency".