Indian Coast Guard ships, Sri Lankan tugs battle blaze on vessel off Colombo port

CHENNAI: The Indian Coast Guard, along with Sri Lankan authorities, is still trying to quell the fire that ignited on board MV X-Press Pearl, a container vessel anchored about nine nautical miles from Colombo port. The ship was holding about 325 metric tons of fuel in its tanks, which is likely to pose the threat of an oil spill.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships Vaibhav and Vajra are fighting the intense fire on board MV X-Press Pearl using an external fire fighting system and braving the odds of rough weather, according to a release.

ICG ship Samudra Prahari, a specialised Pollution Response (PR) vessel, has also been despatched in pollution response configuration to augment the firefighting efforts and respond to an oil spill, if it occurs. It is learnt that four tugs have also been pressed in by Sri Lankan authorities to douse the fire.

A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft has undertaken air reconnaissance of the area for assessment and support. No oil spill has been reported, the release stated.