DUBAI /COLOMBO- The charred New Diamond VLCC has made its way to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after a long journey under tow across the Indian Ocean.
Photos obtained by Splash show the vessel arriving at anchoring in Fujairah on Sunday (8) morning. The 20-year-old tanker’s cargo of crude will be removed and shipped onward to client, Indian Oil Corp, while the badly burnt ship is likely to be deemed too old to warrant repairs with experts suggesting it will head for demolition.
The Panamanian-registered New Diamond, travelling from Kuwait to India with 270,000 tonnes of crude oil, was passing by Sri Lanka’s east coast when an engine room boiler exploded cause a fire that burned out of control for several days in September A Filipino crew member was killed and another suffered injuries.
Firefighters succeeded in putting out the blaze, and the crude remained unaffected though some of the tanker’s fuel leaked. The Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Agency (MEPA) said carcasses of at least four porpoises and a dozen turtles had washed ashore in the eastern and southern areas of the island after the spill.
Last month, the captain of the supertanker, Steiros Ilias Kardany, was fined Rs 12 million ($65,000) for causing the spill and failing to inform officials of the environmental damage.
The vessel was towed to the United Arab Emirates after the owners paid Sri Lanka $2.38 million for putting out the fire.
Another damaged tanker in the headlines is the Syra aframax, which hit a mine in Yemeni waters on October 2, incurring significant damage. The ship, owned by Thanassis Martinos-led Eastern Mediterranean
Maritime (Eastmed), was refused to berth in the UAE and has now headed for Qatar for repairs.
– splash247.com/Agencies