An oil tanker chartered by Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has caught fire off the east coast of Sri Lanka where an aircraft and two navy ships have been deployed to help in the rescue effort, navy representative Commander Ranjith Rajapaksa and sources said, Reuters reports. The fully loaded New Diamond, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), was heading to the port of Paradip in India where state-run IOC operates a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery. Rajapaksa said the VLCC is ablaze about 20 nautical miles off the east coast of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s Marine Protection Authority said steps will be taken to prevent any possible oil leak from the tanker which is carrying 270,000 tonnes of oil, local media reported. No immediate comment was available from IOC or Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

Source: The Standard September 03, 2020 07:41 UTC