The operator of a Japanese bulk carrier which ran aground off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean yesterday apologized for a major oil spill, which officials and environmentalists say is creating an ecological disaster, as police prepared to board the ship.
The MV Wakashio, operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, struck the reef on Mauritius’ southeast coast on July 25.
“We apologize profusely and deeply for the great trouble we have caused,” Mitsui OSK Lines executive vice president Akihiko Ono said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Photo: AFP
The company would “do everything in their power to resolve the issue,” he said.
At least 1,000 tonnes of oil is estimated to have leaked from the ship onto the waters surrounding Mauritius.
About 500 tonnes of oil have been salvaged from the ship, but there are still 2,500 tonnes remaining on the ship.
Neither Mitsui OSK Lines nor Nagashiki Shipping, the ship’s owner, could confirm the cost of damages from the oil spill.
Mauritius on Friday declared a state of “environmental emergency” following the accident, and on Saturday, France said it was sending help from nearby Reunion Island.
“When biodiversity is in peril, there is urgency to act,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday in a tweet.
A French statement from Reunion said that a military transport aircraft was carrying pollution control equipment to Mauritius and the navy’s Le Champlain has sailed with additional material.
Clean-up crews are battling a growing ecological disaster on the archipelago’s pristine shores.
Satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near wetlands that the government called “very sensitive.”
Hundreds of volunteers, many smeared head-to-toe in black sludge, were marshalling along the coastline, stringing together kilometers of makeshift cordons in a desperate attempt to hold back the oily tide.
However, a thick muck has already inundated the island nation’s unspoiled lagoons, marine habitats and white-sand beaches, causing unprecedented damage to the fragile coastal ecosystem upon which Mauritius and its economy relies.
Wildlife workers and volunteers ferried dozens of baby tortoises and rare plants from an island near the spill, Ile aux Aigrettes, to the mainland as fears grew that worsening weather yesterday could tear the ship apart along its cracked hull.
“People have realized that they need to take things into their hands. We are here to protect our fauna and flora,” said Ashok Subron, an environmental activist at Mahebourg, one of the worst-hit areas.
Police said they would execute a search warrant granted by a Mauritius court to board the Wakashio and seize items of interest, including the ship’s log book and communication exchanges, as part of its investigation into the accident.
The ship’s captain, a 58-year-old Indian national, would accompany officers on the search, police officials said.
Twenty crew members evacuated safely from the Japanese-owned but Panamanian-flagged ship when it ran aground are under surveillance.
Residents and environmentalists alike wondered why authorities did not act more quickly after the ship ran aground July 25 on a reef.
“That’s the big question,” Jean Hugues Gardenne with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation said. “Why that ship has been sitting for long on that coral reef and nothing being done.”
This is the country’s first oil spill, he said, adding that perhaps no one expected the ship to break apart. Cracks in the hull were detected a few days ago and the salvage team was quickly evacuated.
About 400 sea booms were deployed to contain the spill, but they were not enough.
The opposition has called for the resignation of the country’s environment and fisheries ministers, as pressure mounts on the government to explain why more was not done to prepare in the two weeks since the ship ran aground.
Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said the spill “represents a danger” for the country of 1.3 million people that relies heavily on tourism and has been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jugnauth convened an crisis committee yesterday, and has expressed concern that forecast bad weather could further complicate efforts to stymie the spill, and cause more structural damage to the vessel.
Heavy winds are expected to push the oil slick even farther along the mainland’s shore.
The country also has appealed to the UN for urgent aid, including experts in containing oil spills and environmental protection.
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS