Mauritius oil spill disaster

I just had to address the MV Wakashio oil spill in some form since as far as I can recall, this is the fist time anything like this has happened in my country. So, here is some information, if you have been looking for it. 

The Bluebay marine park is situated on the south-east coast of mauritius. It is one of the best places which has the most beautiful marine life in mauritius and was declared a National Park in 1997. Once you reach the bay of bluebay marine park, you will feast your eyes on some of the blue water and white sandy beaches. 

But unfortunately, few weeks ago, a disaster happened. A Japanese Mv bulk carrier vessel Wakashio which was carrying 3894 tonnes of low sulphur fuel, 4200 metric tonnes of oil, 207 tonnes of diesel and 90 tonnes of the lube oil ran aground off Point d'Esny, the south-east coast of mauritius on the 25th july 2020. As a result, the government declared the country in a state of 'Environmental Emergency'.

The owner of the vessel is Nagashiki Shipping Co. and the ship was built in 2007 by universal shipbuilding in Kawasaki, Japan. It has a deadweight of 203,103 tonnes, measures 300 meters in length and is registered in Panama.

The ship was on a voyage from China to Brazil via Singapore on ballast. It had 20 crew members when it was grounded, they were reported safe and remained in isolation to prevent the possible spread of the covid-19.

According to the National Coast Guard Radar, the operators first spotted the Wakashio vessel, when it was 11.5 nautical miles offshore. They tried to contact the ship ahead of an accident warning on the wrong course but in vain. No MAYDAY  or distress was sent.

 The preliminary satellite analysis found that the shipwreck location was approximately  2 kilometres from the shore at Point d' Esny and that a 0.23km² oil spill was observed on 6 August. Consequently, many people who relied on fishing were severely affected by the oil spill.

The owner, Nagashiki told the media in an emailed statement that due to 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 (into the uniquely biodiversity-rich marine ecosystem). On 17th August, the Prime minister said that action has been taken to tow the bow section of the casualty to 8 nautical miles from the outer limit of the reef at 2000 mts depth. Two days later, the authorities proceeded with the tugging of the boat. Two tug boats pulled it to around 30 kms east of Vieux Grand Port where it sunk on the 24th of August at around 15h30 and lies at 3000m deep.

Meanwhile all the volunteers were helping to remove the spill out by making long booms of sugar cane leaves and hair.Some of them have even donated their hair. Coast guards , professional teams and volunteers have been working every day to install an additional of 600 meters booms around the MV Wakashio.

The captain and first officer of the Nagashiki shipping Newcastle, Max have been arrested as they have been charged with "endangering safe navigation". During the investigation, the crew members said that there had been a birthday party on the ship , the day it ran aground. And the ship navigated close the shore in order to pick up WiFi signal.They are now being held in custody. 

 For now, the government has closed off the coastal areas of the eastern part of the island , ill fated .