Minor blazes reported on MT New Diamond; SLAF drops DCP using Bell 212 (VIDEO)

The Spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Navy Captain Indika De Silva speaking to News 1st said a team of salvage operation experts transferred by Sri Lanka Navy craft to the location of the ill-fated oil tanker is unable to board the MT New Diamond due to this reason.

Due to High temperature inside the distressed Crude Oil Tanker, MT New Diamond, and environmental factors, there is a possibility of the blaze to re-ignite, said Sri Lanka Navy on Monday (07th September).

The Sri Lanka Air Force for the first time in its history used a Bell 212 Helicopter to drop 1000 Kg’s of Dry Chemical Powder on the MT New Diamond Oil Tanker on the 06th of September 2020 and another 1500 Kg's of DCP were airdropped on Monday, 07th September.

During the evening of 5th September 2020, the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sumangala Dias, the Director Air Operations, Air Vice Marshal Ravi Jayasinghe, and the Chief Fire Officer of the SLAF, Wing Commander Chamil Hettiarachchi held an emergency meeting to analyses and assess the situation onboard the blazing oil tanker.

During this meeting, it was highlighted that the flames were originating from within the engine room.

As a result and by using the expert firefighting knowledge of SLAF Firefighters, a daring decision was made to drop Dry Chemical Powder by a Bell 212 on to specific areas on the oil tanker.

This innovation was done with the expert technical knowledge of Air Force Fire Fighters, the daring flying skills of SLAF Helicopter Pilots, and the dedication of the aircrew.

The Bell 212 had to fly dangerously low through the smoke coming from the tanker to ensure that the bags filled with the chemical powder would land on the areas intended to get maximum effectiveness.

Dry Chemical Powder is a dry chemical extinguishing agent used on class A, class B, and class C fires.

It uses a specially fluidized and siliconized powder mix.

When used effectively this dust would smother the fire and stop the chain reaction with oxygen starvation by coating the surface to which it is applied to.

Further, when this dust is combusted, it would generate Carbon Dioxide which also works towards extinguishing the fire.