Govt. seeks Rs. 340 m compensation from tanker owners

Thursday, 17 September 2020 02:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

AG hands over compensation claim to MT New Diamond owner’s local legal team yesterday
Final compensation including damage to environment to be issued as ship leaves SL waters
AG directs CID Director to name tanker captain as suspect, compile evidence and report to Magistrate’s Court
CID to obtain notice against ship’s captain to produce him before court

By Asiri Fernando

The Attorney General (AG) Dappula De Livera yesterday submitted an interim claim of Rs. 340 million to the lawyers of the owners of MT New Diamond tanker for costs incurred in rendering assistance to the troubled vessel as of last Monday (15 September).

The claim had been prepared for the total cost incurred by Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Sri Lanka Air Force, Marine Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA), Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and Colombo Dockyard PLC, in responding to the fire aboard the New Diamond.

The AG is of the opinion that there is adequate information and evidence that the captain of the MT New Diamond, Capt. Sterio Ilias, had breached articles 25, 26, 38, and 53 of the 2008 Marine Pollution Prevention Act, Attorney General’s Coordinating Secretary State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne told reporters.

According to Jayaratne, the AG has directed the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to name Capt. Ilias as a suspect in the alleged crime, compile evidence against him, and present it before a Magistrates Court.

The CID has also been directed by the AG to obtain notice for the Captain of the vessel to present him before Court.

Jayaratne also noted that a complete claim cannot be finalised until a report on the environmental damage caused by the leakage of bunker fuel (heavy fuel oil) and fire-fighting aboard the tanker MT New Diamond, adding that a complete claim can only be filed once the vessel leaves Sri Lankan waters.

The MT New Diamond was 38 nautical miles (70 km) off Sangamankada Point on the East Coast of Sri Lanka when the distress call was issued last Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Panamanian-registered super tanker (330 m long) was carrying a consignment of 270,000 MT of crude oil for the Indian Oil Company (IOC) from a port in Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip when the fire broke out.