100 tonnes remaining on the boat, including the hull and began to sink.
The oil has started to flow on Friday of the boat failed since three weeks off the island of Mauritius, witnesses said, while the questions multiply on the reasons for which the vessel was able to approach so near the coast.
ALSO READ >> oil spill in Mauritius : the five questions to understand the scale of the disaster
The bulk carrier MV Wakashio, belonging to a shipowner japanese, was wrecked on the 25th of July on a reef at Pointe d’esny, in the south-east of the island of Mauritius, with a total of 3,800 tonnes of fuel oil and 200 tonnes of diesel on board. A week later, between 800 and 1000 tonnes of fuel oil escaped from its broadside ripped and soiled the coastlines, including in protected areas with mangrove forests and endangered species.
summer Offer : Take advantage of the special offer 2 months for 1€ I subscribe
The intervention teams have led to a race against the clock to pump the rest of the fuel, while the boat was threatening from one moment to the other to break. On Wednesday evening, the authorities have announced that all of the fuel content in the tanks had been pumped out and that there were more than 100 tons on the boat, including the bilge.
It is this remainder that has started to run out this Friday. “Since this morning, the water is returned to black around the Wakashio”, said a local fisherman, Alain François. “The authorities have explained that these are the waves that penetrate the vessel, which move the oil in the bilge”, he added.
risk of suffocation
A source working on the operation clean-up has explained, under the cover of anonymity, that this new leak was coming from the engine room, where it is impossible to pump. “We cannot get in this part of the ship. It is too dangerous. There is a risk of asphyxiation”, she justified. But according to this source, the flow should be captured by the flange-floating made by thousands of volunteers mauritians who are being mobilised to limit the environmental disaster.
READ ALSO >> Mauritius : the company behind the MV Wakashio already been involved in accidents
The mauritian government has been accused of neglect, the population wondering why so little had been done between the time that the MV Wakashio has failed and the onset of the leak. The Prime minister Pravind Jugnauth has been estimated that no error had been committed and refused to apologize. “The investigation will determine the causes of this accident, the reasons for which the boat approached as near our coasts, and has failed,” he argued in an interview.
Read our complete file
black Tide in Mauritius
oil spill in Mauritius : the Wakashio on the verge of splitting in two in the indian Ocean oil spill in Mauritius : “All of the oil has been pumped out of the tanks” of the boat failed to Mauritius : the company behind the MV Wakashio already been involved in accidents
In a letter sent on Thursday to the owner and to the owner of japanese boat, Greenpeace estimated that there were still “many unanswered questions”. “Why has your ship sailed-it so dangerously near the reef ? Why have you done so little since the boat went aground ? What will you do to reduce environmental damage, and the pain and the suffering of those whose lives depend on it ?”, asked the NGOS. The owner of the bulk carrier, Nagashiki Shipping, said in a press release to be “deeply conscious of its responsibilities” and has promised to respond “sincerely” to requests for compensation.
