COLOMBO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The fire onboard the MT New Diamond oil tanker which was doused on Monday morning, has reignited again as the vessel remains 40 nautical miles away from Sri Lanka's eastern coast, the navy said.
The vessel is carrying 270,000 metric tonnes of crude oil and was heading to the Paradip Port in India from Kuwait when a fire broke out in its engine room on Thursday, threatening to cause a massive oil spill in the Indian Ocean.
The navy said in a statement that due to high winds triggered by prevailing adverse weather conditions in the sea area where the distressed vessel had been positioned, the fire which had already been doused, had re-ignited from the effects of extreme temperature and sparks onboard.
Presently, several tug boats, ships from the Sri Lanka Navy and Indian Navy and Coast Guard were involved in fire fighting operations.
Navy Spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told local media that the fire had not reached the crude oil tanks and extensive fire fighting operations were ongoing in unfavorable weather conditions.
The Sri Lanka Navy said it will continue to provide assistance to the distressed ship until it leaves Sri Lanka's Maritime Search and Rescue Region. Enditem
