Sri Lankan Navy warn it could take five days to put out the blaze on the 330-metre-long New Diamond.

A Panamanian-registered oil tanker burned out of control for a second day off Sri Lanka on Friday, raising fears of a major new oil spill in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lankan navy and India coast guard fired water cannon while an air force helicopter dropped water on the drifting New Diamond.

More Indian navy vessels were heading to the scene to help fight the blaze on the tanker which was carrying 270,000 tons of crude and 1,700 tons of diesel.

Authorities are trying to put out a fire on oil tanker about 70 kilometers off Sri Lanka. 22 crew members were rescued. One, from the Philippines, is still missing. pic.twitter.com/oNRszUF8P8

— NHK WORLD News (@NHKWORLD_News) September 4, 2020

One Filipino crew member was confirmed to have died in an engine room explosion on Thursday which sparked the alert, the Sri Lankan navy said.

The other 22 crew — five Greek and 17 Filipino — were taken off the 330-meter (1,080-foot) vessel and the fire had not spread to the cargo by mid-morning Friday, officials said.

The ship was on its way from Kuwait to the eastern Indian port of Paradip when it issued a distress signal 60 kilometers (38 miles) from Sri Lanka’s east coast.

As the fire grew, the stricken vessel drifted about 10 kilometers closer to the shore, Sri Lankan officials said.

India’s coast guard said there was a two-meter crack in the New Diamond’s hull about 10 meters above the water line.

Both India and Sri Lanka have deployed reconnaissance planes to track the ship, officials said. However, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center said there was no immediate danger of a spill.

“It is not as bad as it seems,” DMC head Sudantha Ranasinghe told AFP. “The fire has not spread to the cargo. Once the fire is put out, the vessel will be towed further away into deeper waters.”

He said authorities were considering a ship-to-ship transfer of the crude before salvaging the tanker.

An oil tanker caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka while on its way to India from Kuwait. The 2 million barrels of oil on board are believed to still be intact pic.twitter.com/lmsaZSI0pM

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 4, 2020

The vessel is larger than the Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio, which crashed into a reef in Mauritius in July leaking more than 1,000 tons of oil into the island nation’s pristine waters.

Sri Lanka’s neighbor Maldives has raised concerns that a possible oil spill from the New Diamond could cause serious environmental damage.

The Maldives depends on fisheries and tourism and the country has one of the world’s best coral eco systems.

Great News ❤Fire onboard oil tanker #MTNewDiamond brought under control post massive fire fighting effort by Sri Lanka Navy,Airforce & join collaboration with #IndianCoastGuard
Hats off to our great sailor sons of SL Navy ,Indian Coast guard and all other who involved #lka pic.twitter.com/6dc03AU9Ya

— Chamara Prasad LK (@chamaraprasadlk) September 4, 2020

Maldivian minister at the president’s office, Ahmed Naseem, called for precautionary measures in the Indian Ocean archipelago of 1,192 coral islands.

The Maldives is located about 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) southwest of Sri Lanka.

“Maldives needs to watch this oil spill carefully and take all precautions to prevent it from reaching her shores,” Naseem said on Twitter. “This could be a major disaster.”

Massive efforts by @IndiaCoastGuard @indiannavy & their SL,Russian counterparts come to fruition. Fire on oil tanker MT Newdiamond, east of central SL coast, under control. Ship being towed to prevent drifting#India#SriLanka #Shipping#FireFighting@NewsfirstSL @SriLankaTweet pic.twitter.com/Pj3f0ldm3f

— Sidharth M.P (@sdhrthmp) September 4, 2020

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