A drifting inferno in the sea and a potential environmental disaster as an oil tanker carrying 2.7 lakh tonnes of crude caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan and Indian ships and aircraft have managed to control the blaze after 2 days but it has still not been extinguished. One crew member of the tanker was killed in fire, rest of the 22 crew members were rescued, though one of them has been hospitalised due to injuries.
The ship, MT New Diamond, had to be towed away from the Lankan coast to safe waters on Friday during firefighting operations as it kept drifting towards Sri Lanka’s eastern coast. No oil slick has been reported for now but the oil tanker remains an environmental hazard.
The fire began on Thursday in the engine room of the ship that sailed from Kuwait for India.