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Mauritius on ship leaking tonnes of oil in the Indian Ocean

The world is likely heading towards an environmental disaster as a ship carrying thousands of tonnes of fuel has run aground and started leaking the oil into the Indian Ocean.

The carrier named MV Wakashio breached its side bunker on July 25th at Pointe d’Esny, a location categorized in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance situated near the marine park of Blue Bay. This area falls in the south-east coast of Mauritius.

It was journeying to Brazil from China through Singapore on the ballast.

The Environmental Minister, KavyRamano, has declared a state of environmental crisis in a press conference.

In his Thursday’s statement, he further said, “The ministry has been informed … that there is a breach in the vessel MV Wakashio and there is a leakage of oil.”

“The public in general, including boat operators and fishers, are requested not to venture on the beach and in the lagoons of Blue Bay, Pointe d’Esny and Mahebourg.”

The Minister disclosed that the bulk carrier was travelling with 200 tonnes of diesel, 3,894tonnes of bunker fuel in the form of low-sulphur fuel oil and 90 tonnes of lube oil.

All the 20 stranded crew members were evacuated from the ship safely and no one was found to be COVID-19 positive.

The ship is of Japanese origin but carries a Panamanian flag. Nagasaki Shipping Company of Japan, its manufacturing unit, said that the breach took place due to the weather effects.

The owner said, “The Owner and its P+I Club have contracted a specialist oil response and salvage team who are coordinating with the Mauritian authorities to mitigate the effects of any pollution.”

He added, “Due to the bad weather and constant pounding over the past few days, the starboard side bunker tanker has been breached and an amount of fuel oil has escaped into the sea. Oil prevention measures are in place and an oil boom has been deployed around the vessel.”

Mauritius environment ministry has stated that anti-pollution systems have been sent to the affected area to tackle the situation at hand. It further mentioned the government’s request to the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion to aid in the same.

The breached ship was constructed in 2007, having a gross tonnage of 101,000 and deadweight tonnage of 203,000 with a length of 300 metres (984 feet).

Fishing Minister SudheerMaudhoo exclaimed the island’s inability solve the matter as they hadn’t had one of such kind in its history nor did they anticipate it, “This is the first time that we are faced with a catastrophe of this kind, and we are insufficiently equipped to handle this problem.”

All the ministers explained that efforts to stabilize and support the ship sank as the rough seas did not allow it. Measures to pump the oil out too failed miserably.

According to Ecologists, the ship might break up leading to much larger amounts of fuel leakage. They fear that this might induce the sea’s possessions to die down, causing tremendous damage to the island.

Blue Bay Marine Park is being given a lot of attention as the protected site is very close to the disaster location.

The country depends crucially on its seas for food and for tourism, boasting some of the finest coral reefs in the world.

The ministry said that the probe to uncover the cause of the ship running aground is underway.

Authorities say that the Wakashio carrier was identified by the National Coast Guard (NGC) Radar Operators while it was at a distance of 11.5 nautical miles away from the shore. They said the officials took a “series of actions” to communicate with the ship but could not achieve the contact.

There was no “MAYDAY” or distress signal sent by the Master and was only done after the ship lost its control and got grounded.