Oil slick from stricken supertanker spotted off Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (Reuters) - An oil slick has been spotted 1 km (half a mile) from a stricken supertanker loaded with crude oil off the east coast of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan navy said on Tuesday.

"The ship has tilted slightly towards where the fire broke out due to the large amount of water sprayed to douse the fire. Because of this, oil in the engine room appears to have leaked out to the sea," a statement said.

The navy had earlier said it had "better control" over a new fire on the tanker.

Fire first broke out last Thursday in the engine room of the New Diamond and spread to the bridge. It appeared to have been out out, but fire erupted again on Monday.

(Reporting by Reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo, Writing by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kevin Liffey)