On 3 September 2020, the ship caught fire off the western coast of Sri Lanka, resulting in the death of a Filipino crew member.

[3][4] At the time, the ship was carrying 270,000 tonnes of oil from Kuwait to the Paradip refinery in India, with 18 Filipino and five Greek crewmembers on board.

[5] MEPA said that early on 4 September two explosions were reported from New Diamond, though the Sri Lankan Army said that there was no danger of an oil leak at the time.

[9][10] In the meantime, the government of the Maldives had expressed worry, with a presidential minister saying that the country needed to take all precautions to prevent oil from reaching its shores.

[23] On 9 September 2020, MEPA announced that it planned to take legal action against the owner of New Diamond on grounds of violating Sri Lankan environmental protection laws.

[24] The ship's owner was charged $2.4 million for the firefighting effort, which the company paid as a condition of towing New Diamond out of Sri Lankan waters.