Chennai (Tamil Nadu):The Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday said no more flames or smoke was observed since Tuesday evening on very large crude carrier (VLCC) 'New Diamond' that caught fire on September 3.
The salvage team, which boarded the vessel on Wednesday, has intimated that there are no hotspots, flames/smoke onboard and there is no breach of its storage tanks, and the oil slick seen was from its own fuel tanks.
A naval architect in the salvage team has confirmed that the ship's stability is within the safe zone, the Coast Guard said.
The oil tanker, carrying about 300,000 tonnes of crude, caught fire on September 3 after an explosion in its engine room, 37 nautical miles off Sri Lankan coast.
According to Coast Guard the sustained fire fighting by its and Sri Lankan ships and tugs resulted in dousing of fire on Tuesday.
No significant list is observed on the vessel while it continues to be trimmed by aft (rear side of the ship dipping down into water) by about one metre.
"Efforts are on to get the ship on an even keel with the assistance of the salvors," the Coast Guard said.
As regards the oil sheen that was seen on the tanker's rear side, the Coast Guard said it was part of the unburnt oil/oil mixed with water, in the ship's engine room, which escaped during the explosion onboard on September 7.