AG orders stricken crude oil tanker to be towed out of SL waters

MT New Diamond showing severe fire damage

• Oil leaked from tanker still being identified by MEPA
• Indian Coast Guard aircraft sprays chemicals on oil spills, one patch disintegrating 
• Three-member salvage specialist board MT New Diamond, report expected
• AG directs sea water and oil patch samples to be sent to Government Analyst to assess damage

By Asiri Fernando 

The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) will write today to the owners of fire-stricken MT New Diamond, asking them to tow the crude oil carrying behemoth 200 nautical miles away from Sri Lanka’s coast so that it is outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Attorney General (AG) Dappula De Livera yesterday advised MEPA to notify the owners of the ship and direct them to move the vessel to a safer distance following a meeting held with MEPA and the Merchant Shipping Secretariat.

MEPA has informed the AG that the oil patch detected falls under the ‘Type-1’ category of oil spill as per Marine Pollution Prevention Act No. 35 of 2008. The apex maritime legislator has also positively identified that the oil patch originated from the MT New Diamond, Attorney General’s Coordinating Secretary State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said.  

The move comes in the wake of MEPA notifying the AG that the oil patch detected yesterday was not diesel as previously thought and termed it another type of ‘heavy oil’. “The oil patch is fuel oil used in the engine of the tanker,” Navy Spokesman Capt. Indika de Silva said at a press conference held yesterday. However, Silva had earlier identified the patch as diesel. The AG has directed MEPA to submit the samples collected from the scene of the tanker to the Government Analyst and to seek a report from them on the impact on marine life due to the fire and oil patch.  

“We need to await the chemical analysis reports of the oil and water samples to positively identify which type it is,” MEPA Chairperson Dharshani Lahandapura told Daily FT. According to Lahandapura, MEPA is yet to get a reply from the New Diamond’s Insurer. 

“We will be communicating to the ship’s owners to obtain a report from an expert team which boarded the vessel on Wednesday,” Lahandapura said, pointing out that MEPA needed information of the condition of the vessel, its stability level and an assessment of the potential for a leakage of oil.     

A three-member team of salvage experts called in by the MT New Diamond’s owners yesterday boarded the stricken vessel to assess the damage to the vessel and salvage potential, the Navy said. Daily FT learns that the team will submit an initial report to the ship’s owners. 

Two oil patches had been detected and oil dispersant chemicals have been sprayed onto them using a specially equipped Indian Coast Guard (ICG) aircraft, stationed out of Mattala Airport, the Navy said. Silva pointed out that one patch has begun to disintegrate due to the chemicals and that the second patch was being monitored. Both Sri Lanka Air Force and Indian Coast Guard aircraft continue surveillance missions over the area. 

A joint team of Sri Lanka Navy and Indian Coast Guard experts will board the ‘New Diamond’ as soon as the weather permits to make an appraisal of the vessel for themselves. “We plan to have our salvage divers and ICG divers inspect the hull of the vessel when calmer seas prevail,” Capt. Silva added. 

Responding to a question regarding the vessel’s stability, Capt. Silva explained that the engine room and pump room of the New Diamond is filled 80% with water due to the combined fire-fighting efforts over the last week. 

“It has slightly affected the ballast of the ship, but the stability of the vessel is not greatly affected,” Capt. Silva explained, expressing confidence in the integrity of the crude oil compartments of the ship. He stated that the Navy and ICG has assessed the stability data from the vessel and are satisfied with the current stability of the tanker.  

The Navy spokesman thanked India and Russia for the multination effort to assist Sri Lankan authorities in dealing with the tanker emergency. “The Indian Navy and Coast Guard gave us a great deal of support; we appreciate the support of them and the Russian Navy vessels that also assisted earlier on,” Capt. De Silva said. 

The tanker was being held between 40-47 nautical miles as of last evening. A specialist salvage tug ‘Posh Commander’ is inbound from Singapore to assist in the salvage operation. It has been called in by the ship’s owners. The Sri Lanka Air Force has dropped 4500 kg of fire smothering dry chemical powder (DCP) on the stricken tanker to aid the fire-fighting effort. 

The MT New Diamond was 38 nm (70 km) off Sangamankada Point on the East Coast 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 from a port in Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip when the fire broke out.