Sri Lanka Assessing Environment Damage From Oil Tanker Fire

This Thursday, Sept.3, 2020 photo released by Sri Lankan Air Force shows smoke rising after a fire broke out on a Panama-registered oil tanker about 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) east of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's government is sending scientists to determine whether a three-day fire on a giant oil tanker off its coast damaged the marine environment, an official said Monday. (Sri Lankan Air Force via AP)
This Thursday, Sept.3, 2020 photo released by Sri Lankan Air Force shows smoke rising after a fire broke out on a Panama-registered oil tanker about 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) east of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's government is sending scientists to determine whether a three-day fire on a giant oil tanker off its coast damaged the marine environment, an official said Monday. (Sri Lankan Air Force via AP)
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Sri Lanka Assessing Environment Damage From Oil Tanker Fire

This Thursday, Sept.3, 2020 photo released by Sri Lankan Air Force shows smoke rising after a fire broke out on a Panama-registered oil tanker about 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) east of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's government is sending scientists to determine whether a three-day fire on a giant oil tanker off its coast damaged the marine environment, an official said Monday. (Sri Lankan Air Force via AP)
This Thursday, Sept.3, 2020 photo released by Sri Lankan Air Force shows smoke rising after a fire broke out on a Panama-registered oil tanker about 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers) east of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's government is sending scientists to determine whether a three-day fire on a giant oil tanker off its coast damaged the marine environment, an official said Monday. (Sri Lankan Air Force via AP)

Sri Lanka's government is sending scientists to determine whether a three-day fire on a giant oil tanker off its coast damaged the marine environment, an official said Monday.

Ships and helicopters from Sri Lanka and neighboring India extinguished the fire on the MT New Diamond - carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil -on Sunday. The fire killed one Filipino crew member and injured another.

Navy spokesman Indika de Silva said although the main fire has been extinguished, "occasional small-scale fires are taking place from time to time." Firefighters have doused them as they continue spraying water to cool the ship.

The general manager of Sri Lanka´s Marine Environment Protection Authority, Terney Pradeep, said the scientists from state agencies and universities will prepare a risk assessment, including the potential for an oil leak. The authority has said it plans to take legal action over the fire.

On Sunday, Attorney General Dappula de Livera directed officials to prepare cost and environmental damage assessments.

With its engines shut down, the tanker drifted to within 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) of Sri Lanka´s eastern coast on Friday before a tugboat towed it farther out to sea.

Meanwhile, 10 British and Dutch professionals, including rescue operation specialists, disaster evaluators, and legal consultants, reached the scene and were waiting to board the tanker to begin the mission of salvaging the ship. The experts were sent by New Shipping Ltd., the commercial owner of the New Diamond in Athens, Greece, the navy said.

The fire began in an engine room boiler but did not spread to the tanker´s oil storage area and no leak has been reported, the navy said. Sri Lankan officials had warned of possible massive environmental damage if the ship leaks or explodes.

The tanker had 23 crew members - 18 Filipinos and five Greeks. Twenty-one crew members left the tanker uninjured as the fire burned.

The tanker was transporting crude oil from the port of Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait to the Indian port of Paradip, where the state-owned Indian Oil Corp. has a refinery.



Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pope Had a Peaceful Night After Pneumonia Diagnosis, Vatican Says

People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for a respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Pope Francis spent a peaceful fifth night in hospital and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's fragile health.

Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating treatment for the 88-year-old pope who was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.

The Vatican had said previously that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".

The pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.

All the pope's public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican's published calendar.