A new fire broke out on a supertanker carrying about 2 million barrels of oil in the Indian

Ocean off the east coast of Sri Lanka, spokesmen for the country’s navy said on Thursday,
adding that one of its 23 crew was missing and another injured.Navy spokesman Captain
Indika de Silva said flames had spread to the New Diamond’s bridge, but there was no
damage to the cargo area.

“We will need an international effort,” de Silva said.

He said earlier navy personnel at the scene had reported the fire was under control.

A statement released late on Thursday by the navy said the New Diamond, a very
large crude carrier (VLCC), was crewed by 5 Greek and 18 Philippine nationals.

One Philippine national was injured and another was missing following the fire, the
statement said. Two Russian anti-submarine ships and four Indian ships were
assisting in the operation.

Authorities “are taking steps to mitigate and manage the risk of possible oil spills in
future due to this disaster,” the statement said.

The New Diamond, chartered by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), was fully loaded with about
2 million barrels of oil, Refinitiv data showed.

Photographs taken by Sri Lanka’s air force showed extensive damage to the tanker’s
funnel, and thick black smoke and flames coming from the bridge, which is just
behind the cargo area.

Another spokesman, Commander Ranjith Rajapaksa, said the VLCC was ablaze
about 20 nautical miles off the east coast of Sri Lanka and that the military had sent
an aircraft and two ships to assist.

On Twitter, India’s coast guard said it had sent several ships and aircraft to help
fight the fire.

New Diamond sailed from the port of Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, loaded with
Kuwait Export Crude, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed. It was heading for the
Indian port of Paradip, where state-run IOC has a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

While, there have been no reports of large-scale oil leakage, Sri Lankan authorities are
deploying equipment to prevent pollution. The area is south of a belt well known for
whale sightings, and any oil spill could threaten marine life in the region.
New Diamond was about 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the east coast of Sri Lanka when it
caught fire, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The cargo was
loaded at Mina al Ahmadi on Aug. 23 and scheduled to arrive at Paradip on Sept. 5.

The tanker has drifted closer and was positioned about 24 nautical miles from the Sri
Lankan coast at 5:30 a.m local time, said Dharshani Lahandapura, chairperson of Sri
Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority. “We are analyzing the situation. It will
be huge disaster if the spill occurs.”