Tag: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka seeks a claim for $17.38 million from the owners of the oil tanker New Diamond, that caught fire and left a spill of 40 kilometres off the country.

Amid the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic along with the crew change crisis within shipping industry, Health Ministry of Sri Lanka revised quarantine procedure for seafarers, tourists and travellers.

The Sri Lankan Navy saved 18 crew members from the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier MV Eurosun, which ran aground off the coast of Sri Lanka on 23 January.

Starting from 22 December 2020, bulk crew changes have begun for international seafarers through the Offshore Crew Transit Hub (OCTH) operated by a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). The crew transit hub is a passenger vessel stationed in Sri Lankan territorial waters providing a temporary stay for seafarers during bulk crew change operations.

Three Indian Coast Guard ships are escorting the damaged crude tanker MT New Diamond, while it is being towed off from the Sri Lankan Coast to the Fujairah Port.

The owners the New Diamond supertanker, which caught fire with a cargo of two million barrels of oil aboard earlier in September, have agreed to pay 340 million rupees ($1.84 million) to Sri Lanka for its help in extinguishing the fire.

Following the fire onboard the New Diamond VLCC, Sri Lanka confirmed that it will seek compensation for the fire fighting efforts and also plans to charge the captain of the burnt vessel.

Following the fire incident of the supertanker "New Diamond" near the coast of Sri Lanka on Thursday, September 3, a team of experts boarded the vessel to assess the damage of the ship.

After seven days of battling with the fire, firefighting managed to contain the fire aboard the VLCC New Diamond. There could be some small fire pockets, but India and Sri Lank say that the fire is basically extinguished. 

An oil slick was reported near a burning tanker off Sri Lanka. Before this development, officials had warned that help was necessary, in case the vessel started spilling oil.