CHENNAI: Persistent firefighting efforts of the Indian Coast Guard, Sri Lankan vessels and tugs on Tuesday appear to have doused the fire on the Panamanian flagship tanker MT New Diamond which is carrying 270,000 metric tonnes of crude oil.
The fire which re-ignited late on Monday evening increased drastically by midnight, with very high flames emanating from the funnel and aft section, reaching almost 50-60 metres from the weather deck.
Efforts by Indian Coast Guard Ships (ICGS) Sujay, Shaurya, Sarang and specialised ICG Pollution Response Vessel Samudra Paheredar along with Sri Lankan ships and tugs ensured the intensity and magnitude of the fire was reduced considerably by daybreak on Tuesday.
The master of MT New Diamond, on board ICGS Shaurya, has intimated that the fire appears to have been doused. The situation is being monitored closely and boundary cooling with sea water and application of foam has been enhanced to avoid reignition, said a Coast Guard spokesman.
Meanwhile, a 16-member salvage team including marine chemists and naval architects are on board Sri Lankan tugs ALP Winger and TTT1. The salvage team is in agreement with the methodology adopted by the Indian Coast Guard and are providing suggestions to make the firefighting more effective.
The persistence of the fire for eight days has weakened the superstructure of the vessel. In order to supplement the surface firefighting efforts, the Sri Lankan Navy had requested the Indian Coast Guard to provide more dry chemical powder (DCP) for aerial dropping.
Indian Coast Guard Ship Abheek with 1,500 kg of DCP was diverted to enter Trincomalee harbour and hand it over to the Sri Lankan Navy. It is also learnt that a Coast Guard Dornier with 700 kg of DCP was dispatched from Chennai to Trincomalee.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said that its helicopter on board ICGS Sarang is being launched regularly for aerial assessment of the situation. No oil spill has been reported till now, said the spokesman.