Naval vessels and aircraft are conducting rescue efforts off Sri Lankan coast after a very large crude carrier (VLCC) chartered by the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) caught fire. The fully loaded vessel, identified as New Diamond, was on its way to Paradip from Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait when the incident took place.

According to Srilankan navy officials, the ship is ablaze about 20 nautical miles off the east coast of the country close to Colombo. "The Sri Lanka air force has scrambled an observation aircraft and the navy has sent in two ships to help with rescue efforts," Commander Ranjith Rajapaksa of the Sri Lankan navy said.

Various reports claimed that Sri Lanka's Marine Protection Authority assured steps will be taken to prevent any possible oil leak from the tanker which is carrying 270,000 tonnes of oil.

There is yet to be any comments from the part of IOC or Kuwait Petroleum Corp regarding the incident.

-with agency inputs

(This is a developing story. Please check for further updates.)

First Published:Sept 3, 2020 1:01 PM IST