Sri Lanka: fire on "New Diamond" oil tanker "completely" extinguished
Firefighters fighting to put out the fire at the “New Diamond” tanker off Sri Lanka on September 4, 2020. Sri Lankan Air Force / AFP
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The Sri Lankan authorities announced on Sunday that the fire on board the tanker "New Diamond" was over.
Experts are now on site to assess the environmental risks.
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The ship had been
engulfed in flames for four days
.
The declared fire aboard the "New Diamond" tanker is "
completely
" extinguished, Sri Lankan naval chief Nishantha Ulugetenna announced on Sunday.
A total of six ships, a plane and a helicopter, were used by the coast guard to fight the flames.
A pollution control vessel is now near the "New Diamond".
Carrying 270,000 tonnes of oil and 1,700 tonnes of fuel, it raised fears of a new oil spill in the Indian Ocean, just a few weeks after
the Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio grounded
off Mauritius.
No oil spill
Now is the time to assess the damage.
International experts have already started to assess the environmental risks of the fire, according to the country's disaster management center.
Ten British and Dutch professionals, specialists in rescue operations, disaster assessment and legal advice, are on site.
Two tugs were also dispatched from Singapore and Mauritius to take care of the vessel whose hull was cracked about 10 meters above the waterline.
Authorities, however, ruled that there had been no oil spill and that the crack was not considered a catastrophic structural failure.
However, the Sri Lanka Marine Environment Protection Agency stressed that legal action could be taken against the owner, Porto Emporios Shipping, a company registered in Liberia, "
if the worst were to happen and the ship broke.
".
(With
AFP
)
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Sri Lanka
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