Oil supertanker catches fire off Sri Lanka

Reuters Videos
4 年前

Authorities say that a new fire broke out on a massive and fully loaded oil supertanker off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's Navy said on Thursday (September 3) that flames had spread to the bridge of the ship.

One of its 23 crew was injured and another missing.

Two Russian warships had left a Sri Lankan harbour to assist in the firefighting.

The cargo area is reportedly still intact. Only the engine room and surrounding areas were damaged.

A navy spokesman said the military had sent an aircraft and two ships to aid in the rescue.

The New Diamond is what's called a "very large crude carrier" -- that's the naming classification for the second-largest type of oil tanker in the world.

It's chartered by Indian Oil Corp and was carrying the equivalent of about two million barrels of oil.

The ship had sailed from Kuwait and was headed toward India, according to ship-tracking data.