The laboratory report by the Government Analyst on the oil samples collected from the stricken MT New Diamond vessel will be presented to the Attorney General’s Department on Monday, the Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), Attorney- at -Law Dharshini Lahandapura said.
Sri Lanka is seeking compensation for its efforts to combat the fire on the MT New Diamond and averting a large scale disaster.
Sri Lanka has put the preliminary estimate for the compensation at nearly USD 2 million.
This includes the costs and efforts by the Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Ports Authority, the Marine Environment Protection Authority, and others.
It is also expected that the Captain of the ship will be charged after it was revealed through crew member statements that he had failed to take any action to extinguish the fire at the initial stages.
The Attorney General’s Department is reportedly pursuing charges against the ship owners, captain and crew under the Marine Pollution Act as well as for criminal negligence.
The vessel sailing under the flag of Panama carrying 270 000 metric tonnes of crude oil and 117,000 metric tonnes of diesel caught fire in Sri Lanka’s Eastern seas nearly 38 nautical miles from the Sangaman Kanda Point on September 3.