The "New Diamond", which was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil and 1,700 tonnes of diesel, caught fire on September 4, 2020 off the coast of Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lankan Air Force / AFP
The Greek captain of the tanker struck by a fire off Sri Lanka in early September was sentenced on Wednesday for environmental damage.
He was fined 12 million rupees, or 55,000 euros.
The New Diamond was carrying 270,000 tons of oil and 1,700 tons of diesel when an explosion in the engine room on September 3 caused a fire.
The latter was extinguished on September 9.
The explosion killed one of the 23 crew members, the others were evacuated.
Pollution on the Sri Lankan coast
Tried on Wednesday, Steiros Ilias Kardany, the captain of the tanker, pleaded guilty.
He was accused of being responsible for the leak of around 400 to 480 tons of diesel in the Indian Ocean, causing the formation of a slick more than 40 km long.
The bodies of at least four porpoises and a dozen sea turtles were then found on the coast of Sri Lanka.
The tanker was initially stranded off the Sri Lankan coast due to a dispute over the payment of costs, in particular for the extinction of the fire.
Its owners having finally paid the sum of 2.38 million dollars, the boat was finally towed in early October to the port of Khorfakkan, in the United Arab Emirates.
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Diesel
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Oil