Greek-owned vessel continues to burn in the Indian Ocean
A fire continued to ravage a Panama-flagged supertanker in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Sri Lanka on Friday.
One of the 23 crew of New Diamond, a Filipino, is missing and presumed dead.
There is no real risk of a spill from the supertanker, a senior official in the Indian Ocean nation’s navy said on Friday.
Director-General of Operations Rear-Admiral Y.N. Jayarathna told reporters it was the navy’s view that there was no real danger of a spill, because the fire on the ship has been contained in the rear section of the vessel.
The fully laden vessel was carrying about 2 million barrels (around 270,000 tons) of Kuwaiti oil valued at roughly $90 million to the Paradip refinery on India’s east coast when the fire broke out in the engine on Thursday.
The Panamanian-flagged tanker has been owned by Liberia-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc since 2013.
The vessel’s commercial and safety manager is Greece-based New Shipping Ltd, which has a fleet of 32 oil tankers and bulk carriers under its care.
[Reuters]
