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News > Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Warns of Oil Spill After Smothering Fire in Tanker

  • Sri Lanka Navy and other several vessels extinguished the reignited fire on board the oil tanker. Sept. 6. 2020.

    Sri Lanka Navy and other several vessels extinguished the reignited fire on board the oil tanker. Sept. 6. 2020. | Photo: Twitter / @srilankaglobal

Published 9 September 2020
Opinion

The incident had raised fears of an ecological catastrophe in Sri Lanka and The Maldives.

Sri Lanka's Navy Wednesday warned that it detected an oil spill that has reached two nautical miles in extension, although a fire in the oil tanker New Diamond was previously put out.

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This ship, which was carrying around 2.7 million tons of crude near the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, caught fire last Thursday for the first time, prompting fears of a spill in the Indian Ocean.

On Monday, just a day after authorities declared that the fire was out, flames and smoke were again reported aboard the tanker, which is now considered under control.

However, "crude oil or what we have identified as heavy crude is still seeping from the ship," Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva explained.

The Sri Lankan Navy said in a statement that the ship "is now about 37 nautical miles from Sangamankanda point on Sri Lanka's east coast, and the disaster management operation continues at full steam in rough seas and high winds."

The incident had raised fears of an ecological catastrophe in Sri Lanka and The Maldives among marine environmental protection agencies. Even the Sri Lankan Attorney General ordered an estimate of the possible environmental damage caused by the fire.

The fire comes a month after a Panamanian-flagged ship carrying some 4,000 tons of diesel dumped part of its cargo into the waters of Mauritius island after suffering a break.

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