An oil tanker of Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has caught fire off the east coast of Sri Lanka where an aircraft and two navy ships have been permitted to aid in the rescue effort, navy representative Commander Ranjith Rajapaksa and sources reported.

The fully loaded New Diamond, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), was heading to the port of Paradeep in Odisha where state-run IOC operates a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

According to sources, the fire-hit vessel was off Colombo. “The Sri Lanka air force has scrambled an observation aircraft and the navy has sent in two ships to help with rescue efforts,” told Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka's Marine Protection Authority announced that they would take practical steps to prevent any possible oil leak from the tanker which carries 270,000 tonnes of oil. Reports from IOC or Kuwait Petroleum Corp is unavailable. It is not clear if there were any causalities.