The New Diamond is currently 66 nautical miles from Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka. (FILE)
Colombo / New Delhi:
The owners of the New Diamond supertanker, which caught fire with a cargo of two million barrels of oil on board, agreed to pay 340 million rupees ($ 1.84 million) to Sri Lanka for its help in extinguishing the blaze and to avoid disaster.
The provisional claim concerns services provided by the Sri Lankan Navy, Air Force, Port Authority and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) after the fire from September 3 to 15, Nishara said. Jayaratne, Coordinator of the Attorney General of Sri Lanka.
The ship’s insurers to the west of England will foot the bill, MEPA chairman Dharshani Lahandapura said.
The New Diamond, loaded with Kuwaiti oil, is chartered by the Indian Oil Corp. and is currently 66 nautical miles (122 kilometers) from Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka.
The MEPA has authorized the release of 20 crew members as an injured sailor is treated at a private hospital in Sri Lanka, Lahandapura said.
The captain was not allowed to leave the country as he is undergoing legal proceedings, she said.
Greece-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc is the registered owner of the 20-year-old, very large Panamanian-flagged crude oil carrier, according to data from Refinitiv.
Lahandapura said the interim claim does not include damages for the marine oil spill. Although it leaked fuel, its cargo of crude oil remained intact.
The ship’s managers, New Shipping Ltd, appointed SMIT Singapore Pte Ltd to lead the rescue operations.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
