• Firefighting and rescue cost $ 170 million
• MEPA to file a separate case for pollution
• Level of pollution to be assessed separately
• Two-metre-deep and 400-metre-wide oil slick spreading pollutants

By Sarah Hannan The Attorney General’s (AG) Department on Thursday (17) revealed the total cost incurred for the firefighting and rescue operations carried out to salvage the MT New Diamond crude oil tanker since 3 September to be $ 170 million. The ship had sounded the distress call while positioned 38 nautical miles off the coast of eastern Sri Lanka from the Sangamankanda Point, after the ship’s boiler room exploded, causing a massive fire onboard. The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) responded to the distress call at first and deployed their No. 3 Maritime Squadron located at the SLAF Academy in China Bay and promptly dispatched a Beechcraft King Air B200, which transmitted live situational updates to the Sri Lanka Navy. A SLAF MI-17 helicopter was deployed to conduct “Bambi Bucket” operations. The “Bambi Bucket” operation was conducted continuously until last light on 3 September. The SLAF Beechcraft continued its aerial surveillance of the situation while an MI-17 helicopter conducted “Bambi Bucket” operations continuously to support efforts of dousing the fire. The tanker was transporting 270,000 metric tonnes (MT) of crude oil from the Kuwaiti port Mina Al Ahmadi to the Indian Paradip Port, when it faced this unfortunate event. It is also reported that the 1,700 MT of diesel required for the use of the tanker is also stored onboard. The distressed oil tanker in the eastern seas was manned by 23 crew members, including five Greeks and 18 Philippine nationals. Legal proceedings commence The maritime authorities of Sri Lanka, guided by the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) and as advised by the AG’s Department, demanded claims for the efforts that were taken to avert the disaster caused by MT New Diamond’s fire, resulting in an interim claim and the Captain of the ship being summoned by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. After all the efforts that were taken, the oil slick that was trailing the MT New Diamond over the beginning of the week seems to be recognised as a pollutant oil known as bunker oil. One need not have to go to the lengths of finding a scientific breakdown on how harmful it could be to the marine environment, as bunker oil spillage can be contested under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (Bunker Convention). Moreover, the AG’s Department on Wednesday (16) instructed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to present facts of the interrogations they conducted on Ship Captain Ilias Sterio and had then instructed them to obtain a notice of summons requesting his appearance in court. The AG's Department, after studying the Government Analyst’s Department’s report and the facts that were presented by the CID that interrogated the Captain and crew of the MT New Diamond, had stated that they are in possession of adequate information and evidence to refer to the 2008 Marine Pollution Prevention Act and state that the accident that caused a blast in the engine room boiler which ignited the MT New Diamond had breached Articles 25, 26, 38, and 53 of the said Act. Following this, on Thursday, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court issued summons on Capt. Ilias Sterio to appear before court on 28 September. Notice was issued by Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage following a request made by Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, appearing on behalf of the CID. Deputy Solicitor General Peiris had informed that the layer of oil which leaked from the tanker was about 400 metres wide and around two metres deep. The oil patch was observed in the sea where the tanker was adrift. Peiris added that the sea water, up to a distance of two nautical miles, was observed to have been polluted by the oil slick. By Thursday, the MEPA had noticed that sea water pollution had spread across four nautical miles. Meanwhile, the AG on Wednesday also named a claim of Rs. 340 million to managers of the vessel New Shipping Ltd., the Sri Lanka Navy, the SLAF, and the other observation visits made by maritime authorities headed by the MEPA. The claim had been prepared for the total cost incurred by the Sri Lanka Navy, the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, the SLAF, the MEPA, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), and Colombo Dockyard PLC, in responding to the fire aboard the New Diamond. Oil slick samples tested On Tuesday (15), the Government Analyst’s Department had returned their results to the MEPA, stating that the oil samples collected from the site of the oil slick that was trailing the MT New Diamond was bunker oil. MEPA Chairperson Dharshani Lahandapura, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said: “The oil samples that were collected and sent for testing have returned and confirm that the oil slick was not from the crude oil that was transported onboard the distressed ship.” The MEPA noted that the oil samples were collected from different areas of the oil slick to confirm if there was any crude oil leakage, and were also retracted from different depths to analyse the impact the contents would cause to marine life in the long run. The report had detected the substance to be bunker oil, commercially known as heavy petroleum distillate (HPD). The team from the MEPA had also taken crude oil samples and oil samples from the engine room, from which the leak had originated at first, after the firefighting had been completed, for which separate tests were carried out to match against the sample reading from the oil slick. HPD is known to be a general class of combustible liquids which includes two parts fuel oil and one part diesel fuel. HPD is considered to be ignitable with a flash point between 100-200 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the MT New Diamond Captain has been charged under the Marine Pollution Act, we asked the MEPA General Manager Dr. P.B. Terney Pradeep Kumara whether there would be changes filed under the Bunker Convention, to which he responded: “At the moment, we are proceeding with legal action according to the local Marine Pollution Act. However, there is a probability that the ship’s owners will also face litigation under the international conventions as well.” Furthermore, when asked about the possible impact bunker oil could have on marine life, Dr. Kumara said that bunker oils are quite dense and therefore, they can block sunlight entering the water columns that would impact the ocean’s breathability. As such, he noted that it could cause breathing difficulties for dolphins, whales, fry fish, plankton, and aquatic plants as well. Greece-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc. is the registered owner of the 20-year-old Panama-flagged very large crude carrier New Diamond, whereas New Shipping Ltd. acts as the manager of the vessel. -- Dangers of bunker oil Ship operations are one of the main sources of oil pollution of the marine environment, especially operating giant oil tanker vessels to transport oil from production regions to consumers. It is not only the risk of catastrophic oil spills when ships ground or collide which must be considered; all ships also carry fuel oil which may be as bad to the environment. There are many reasons for potential risks of environmental pollution, not only from accidents but also from operations in the field of maritime navigation. For example, the dirty water contaminated with even small amounts of oil in the engine room space causes pollution in the marine environment when pumping out this water into the sea. Further, oil leaking from fuel oil bunkering into the sea in high-sensitive areas has high impacts on the marine environment. Source: National Research Council (2002) -- Bunker Convention The high potential risk that is tied with oil pollution from ship operations when fuelling or bunkering resulted in the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (Bunker Convention), which was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in the year of 2008. The Bunker Convention ensures that typical, swift, and effective compensation is available to the parties that suffer damage caused by spills of oil when carried as fuel in ships’ bunkers. This creates a liability and compensation regime in the case of marine pollution, as damage has occurred by spills of bunker oil from ships in the territorial water and exclusive economic zone of a state. Source: International Maritime Organisation (2004)