Mauritius oil spill: Grounded ship splits apart leaking tons of residual oil into water

The grounded Japanese oil tanker near the protected coral reefs off the Mauritius shore has now split apart. According to reports, officials announced the disastrous development on August 15 and informed that as a consequence of the ship splitting apart, the residual fuel in the ship released into the pristine turquoise waters.

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Tanker Splits apart

As per reports, photos provided by the official clean-up crew backed by Mauritius’s government show the ship, which was carrying 4,000 tones of oil, broken in two pieces. Tugboats have already been deployed and are hard at work while oil barriers and a skimmer ship have also been placed nearby.

Environmental groups monitoring the situation in Mauritius have stated that the damage done by the leaking oil could be irreversible. As per reports, the Japanese ship MV Wakashio struck a coral reef on July 25 and after days of pounding by rough waves, the tanker began leaking fuel into the water. By August 6, roughly 1,000 tonnes of fuel began to leak.

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Nagashiki Shipping company, which owns the vessel, has is reported to have claimed that only residual amounts of fuel remain on the ship after the most oil was pumped out earlier this week. The company has also launched an investigation into why the ship was so close to the coral reef when, as per records, the ship was meant to be at least 10 miles from shore.

The Mauritius government has declared an environmental emergency and has also stated that it is seeking compensation from the company. After the emergency was declared, thousands of volunteers rushed to the shore in an effort to create makeshift oil barriers made out of fabrics stuffed with sugarcane leaves and even human hair. Mauritius' economy heavily relies on tourism and has been suffering from the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(With AP Inputs)

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