Sri Lankan navy extinguishes another fire on supertanker

COLOMBO: A fresh fire that erupted on an oil tanker drifting off Sri Lanka is under control again, the country’s navy said.

The new blaze broke out on Monday on the MT New Diamond.

The navy said three members of a salvage team had boarded the tanker.

High winds, extreme temperatures on the ship and sparks reignited the fresh fires, the navy added.

“The fire has now been brought under control and the ship is being towed by a tugboat to out to sea,” The Associated Press quoted navy spokesperson Indika de Silva as saying.

“There are no flames or smoke to be noticed as of now,” he said.

The navy’s specially trained firefighting and disaster management team will join with firefighting experts from India’s coast guard and specialists sent by the ship’s owner to assess the situation, he said in the report.