One Filipino crew member was confirmed to have died in an engine room explosion (Reuters)
Colombo, Sri Lanka:
A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned uncontrolled for a second day without work Sri Lanka on Friday, elevating fears of a big new oil spill throughout the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lankan navy and India coastguard fired water cannon whereas an air strain helicopter dropped water on the drifting New Diamond.
Additional Indian navy vessels have been heading to the scene to help battle the blaze on the tanker which was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude and 1,700 tonnes of diesel.
One Filipino crew member was confirmed to have died in an engine room explosion on Thursday which sparked the alert, the Sri Lankan navy acknowledged.
The other 22 crew — 5 Greek and 17 Filipino – have been taken off the 330-metre (1,080-foot) vessel and the fireplace had not unfold to the cargo by mid-morning Friday, officers acknowledged.
The ship was on its method from Kuwait to the jap Indian port of Paradip when it issued a distress signal 60 kilometres (38 miles) from Sri Lanka’s east coast.
As the fireplace grew, the stricken vessel drifted about 10 kilometres nearer to the shore, Sri Lankan officers acknowledged.
India’s coastguard acknowledged there was a two-metre crack throughout the New Diamond‘s hull about 10 metres above the water line.
Every India and Sri Lanka have deployed reconnaissance planes to hint the ship, officers acknowledged. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Administration Centre acknowledged there was no fast hazard of a spill.
“It is not as unhealthy as a result of it seems,” DMC head Sudantha Ranasinghe suggested AFP. “The fireside has not unfold to the cargo. As quickly as the fireplace is put out, the vessel shall be towed further away into deeper waters.”
He acknowledged authorities have been considering a ship-to-ship change of the crude sooner than salvaging the tanker.
– Maldives concern disaster –
The vessel is greater than the Japanese bulk supplier MV Wakashio, which crashed proper right into a reef in Mauritius in July leaking better than 1,000 tonnes of oil into the island nation’s pristine waters.
Sri Lanka’s neighbour Maldives has raised issues {{that a}} doable oil spill from the New Diamond might set off crucial environmental damage.
The Maldives will rely upon fisheries and tourism and the nation has considered one of many world’s biggest coral eco packages.
Maldivian minister on the president’s office, Ahmed Naseem, known as for precautionary measures throughout the Indian Ocean archipelago of 1,192 coral islands.
The Maldives is located about 1,000 kilometres (625 miles) southwest of Sri Lanka.
“Maldives desires to have a look at this oil spill rigorously and take all precautions to forestall it from reaching her shores,” Naseem acknowledged on Twitter. “This is perhaps a big disaster.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
