Sri Lanka oil tanker fire: Firefighting continues, tweets Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard on Saturday tweeted that firefighting to put out the fire at oil tanker MT New Diamond was still on. The Coast Guard added that there was 'no oil slick'. The oil tanker ship contains around 300,000 tonnes of crude oil and an oil spill would be disastrous.

Both, Indian Coast Guard and Sri Lankan Navy are undertaking joint efforts to put out the flames. The oil tanker has been towed further away from Sri Lankan coast into safe waters.

"#ICG & Sri Lankan ships and aircraft alongwith tug ALP Winger after consolidated efforts successfully towed   #MTNewDiamond more than 35 NM away from  #SriLanka coast to safe waters. #FireFighting continues and fire now reduced. No oil slick reported," Indian Coast Guard tweeted.

On Friday, there was a positive development as the rescue ships were able to douse the fire at crew accommodation area of the oil tanker. 22 of the 23 crew members have been rescued and search is on for 1 Filipino crew member who is missing.

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Coast Guard prepares for an oil spill:

Although it has said that there was no oil slick as of now, Indian Coast Guard is preparing for all eventualities. Coast Guard aircrafts with pollution control spray pods and oil spill dispersants have been mobilised. The coast guard has also pressed more ships with pollution control equipments into the firefight.

Pollution response teams of Indian Coast Guard are on standby as well.