CHENNAI: The Indian Coast Guard along with the Sri Lankan and Indian Navy has successfully averted a major ecological disaster in the Indian Ocean after battling a fire for over a week on the Panamanian tanker MT New Diamond, which was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil from Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip.
K Natarajan, Director General Indian Coast Guard, said that the first phase of the mission, which was to extinguish the fire, is over and the Coast Guard is prepared for the next phase which is to contain an oil spill if any. "However, there would be no such requirement for this mission as the oil cargo is intact," he said.
Natarajan said that seven Indian Coast Guard ships were involved in dousing the fire with foam and water. The fire, which reignited, was brought under control on September 8.
He said the vessel condition was stable on Wednesday. "The hull has been damaged. The cargo of nearly 270,000 tonnes of crude oil in five tanks of the ship is intact. There is no breach of the tank as of now. The oil sheen wass due to diesel oozing out following an explosion on Sunday evening on the starboard side oil tank. The blaze was doused. But a small amount of diesel oozed out. There is not much threat to the environment. The Indian Coast Guard Dornier from Matalla airbase sprayed 300 litres of oil spill dispersant to disintegrate the sheen. Ships were used to churn the waters to accelerate the process," said Natarajan.
The director general said that the biggest challenge before the Coast Guard whose help was sought by Sri Lankan authorities, was to control the fire. "When the fire goes out of control, it is difficult to tackle," he said. The vessels involved in fighting the blaze were within 10 to 15 metres of the oil tanker. There was the threat of an explosion on the tanker. Even the firefighting was a challenge as ships have been spraying foam and water from all sides," said Natarajan.
Meanwhile, a Coast Guard spokesman said that operations will continue till the ship is removed from the area for final disposal. On whether the cargo will be shifted, he said that will be decided by the owners and Sri Lankan authorities.