Sri Lankan emergency teams have successfully taken the reignited fire at the New Diamond oil tanker under control and are now continuing the extinguishing effort, the country's navy said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2020) Sri Lankan emergency teams have successfully taken the reignited fire at the New Diamond oil tanker under control and are now continuing the extinguishing effort, the country's navy said on Tuesday.
On September 3, a fire broke out on the vessel as it sailed east of Sri Lanka, said to have been transporting 270,000 tonnes of oil from Kuwait to India. Various Sri Lankan authorities, as well as the Indian Coast Guard, have been involved in extinguishing the blaze, which was finally put out on Sunday. Nevertheless, it reignited the next day due to high internal temperatures and high winds.
"As a result of the concerted efforts of the disaster management teams, the fire resulted by adverse weather onboard the MT New Diamond has been successfully controlled to a greater extent by now. Meanwhile, the disaster management teams are making a lot of effort and continuing the mission ahead, using fire extinguishing agents and water," the navy said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government is evaluating the incurred costs and planning to file a claim with the vessel's insurers, according to The Daily FT newspaper.
