A fire on a supertanker abandoned off Sri Lanka's east coast has been extinguished, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman said on Sunday.

Coastguard vessels continued to spray water over the still smoking tanker to prevent re-ignition.

The New Diamond is carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil, although a senior Sri Lankan navy official said on Friday there was no real risk of a spill.

The fire broke out in the engine room on Thursday morning and spread to the bridge.

The oil tanker, chartered by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), sailed from Mina Al Ahmadi port in Kuwait loaded with Kuwait Export Crude, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed.

It was heading for the Indian port of Paradip, where state-run IOC has a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery.

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