Sri Lanka Navy says that the joint effort to douse the fire onboard the vessel MSC ‘Daniela’ located in seas south of Colombo is still underway assistance of the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Ports Authority personnel.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chaminda Walakuluge stated that although the spread of the flames has been brought under control, the teams are still unable to get close to the ship.

He stated that they expect to completely extinguish the fire within a couple of hours.

Upon receiving a fire distress call from the container vessel Tuesday (4), the Sri Lanka Navy dispatched two Fast Attack Craft (FACs) on scene to escort the vessel which was plying 120 Nm off Colombo.

The two SLN FACs managed to escort the vessel up to 33 Nm off the Colombo Lighthouse and the distance was further cut short by escorting it to 10 Nm off Colombo by last morning. 

Two tugs of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Rawana and Maha Wewa also joined firefighting efforts but the initial efforts went in vein due to the intensity of flames.

In the eventuality of spread of fire, Sri Lanka Navy requested assistance from the Indian High Commission, as there was a Coast Guard vessel (ICGS ‘Shoor’) that was on a goodwill visit berthed at the Colombo harbour. 

The Indian High Commission promptly replied to the request made by the Sri Lanka Navy dispatching ICGS ‘Shoor’ to assist in extinguishing fire onboard the distressed vessel. 

The firefighting mission was also joined by the SLNS ‘Sagara’ patrolling in the Southern Seas. Both ‘Shoor’ and ‘Sagara’ are equipped with firefighting equipment and have specialized firefighting personnel onboard.

In addition, the Indian Navy had also directed two of their ships INS ‘Darshak’ and INS ‘Garriel’ to the location. In the similar vein, three more SLN FACs were dispatched on scene for the evacuation of 21 crew members in a situation of the fire spreading, endangering the safety and life of the crew.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force also joined hands, providing a ‘Bell 212’ helicopter augmenting the combined firefighting efforts. The Indian Navy further extended its assistance providing the ‘Chetak’ helicopter to the distress response efforts.