CHENNAI: The Indian Ocean is on alert as the Indian Coast Guard along with the Indian and Sri Lankan Navies are battling to douse the blaze on the Panamanian flagship oil tanker MT New Diamond which is carrying 270,000 metric tonnes of crude oil some 360 nautical miles from Chennai.
The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tanker, which was chartered by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), was travelling from Kuwait and was headed towards the Paradip Port in Odisha, where the state-run oil company operates a three lakh barrel-per-day refinery. The fire, which broke out in the engine room on Thursday following an explosion, is yet to be doused as a two-metre crack has been observed from the weather deck. This is approximately 10 metres above the waterline on the port quarter deck.
Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shaurya is coordinating firefighting and rescue operations. Two Sri Lankan tugs Ravana and Vishaba, along with ALP Winger, are assisting in firefighting with spray of water and foam and undertaking boundary wall cooling around the main crude oil tanks. Two Sri Lankan Naval Ships and INS Sahyadri are also in the area. Continuous aerial recce is being done by Indian Coast Guard Dornier Aircraft and Sri Lankan Air Force Beachcraft.
In the joint efforts, the ICG ship has successfully smothered the massive fire in the accommodation area and exhaust funnel of the vessel. The fire was noticed near the Port RU Fuel oil tank area. Concerted joint efforts by ICG ships, Sri Lanka Navy and tugs also resulted in the rescue of 22 (17 Filipinos and five Greeks) of the 23 crew safely. A Filipino sailor, who initially was claimed missing, has died in the incident.
The Coast Guard said no oil spill is reported in the area. In order to augment efforts towards firefighting and tackling a possible oil spill, the Indian Coast Guard has additionally deployed Coast Guard Ships Sarang and Sujay with pollution response equipment and Chetak helicopter.
Further, two Coast Guard Fast Patrol Ships Ameya and Abheek have been deployed from Karaikal and Chennai respectively with 1000 litres of Oil Spill Dispersant (OSD), Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) and Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) liquid to augment pollution response efforts.
Also, ICG Pollution Response Ship Samudra Paheredar is deployed specifically for any oil spill contingency. Two emergency towing vessels are being deployed by the Union government for augmenting towing assistance. ICG Pollution Response Teams and vessels are on standby, ready to embark with equipment at short notice.
Two Coast Guard Dornier aircraft with oil spill dispersants and pollution response spray pods departed from Chennai to Mattalla in Hambantota on Friday morning in pollution response configuration for aerial assessment of the vessel and tackling the oil spill, if any. The Coast Guard said that continuous liaison and coordination is being maintained with Sri Lanka Coast Guard and other authorities for expeditious augmentation of the response to fight and contain the fire on board MT New Diamond.
While experts have ruled out any impact on the Indian coast, a National Institute of Oceanography source said that with such a large quantity of oil which is around 3 lakh barrels, the impact could be felt in the longer run if any untoward incident like oil spill happens. "The impact would not be felt immediately but after two months when the North East monsoon happens resulting in winds and currents," the NIO source said.