Colombo: An oil tanker which carried crude oil from Kuwait to India and caught fire off Sri Lanka’s East Coast is being towed out of the country’s waters despite a pending marine pollution claim lodged by Sri Lanka, an official said on Saturday. The Panama-registered New Diamond tanker was carrying 270,000 metric tons of crude oil from Kuwait to India when a boiler explosion in its engine room caused fire on September 3.
The Sri Lanka Navy with the help from the Indian Navy and coast guards doused the fire after three days. Two Sri Lankan naval ships, one Indian naval ship and 3 Indian coast guard vessels were deployed in the operations. The Attorney General’s office here said on Saturday that the tanker was being towed away from the waters against Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority directives and the Attorney General’s advice regarding the pending marine pollution claim lodged by Sri Lanka.
The ship owners had agreed to settle the Sri Lankan cost claim of Rs 440 million, the Attorney General’s office had said earlier. However, the Sri Lanka Navy said permission was granted to tow the oil tanker away pending the settlement of the claim.
The captain of the ship was produced in a court after the police’s CID recorded his statement. Although the court ordered he should not be remanded, he was charged for committing offences under the Marine Pollution Environmental Protection Act.
The court barred him from leaving the country, and the case will be next taken up on October 12. The tanker had 23 crew members – 18 Filipinos and five Greeks. Twenty-two of the 23 member crew had been safely rescued off the tanker.
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