Frightened residents of the Indian Ocean nation Mauritius completed dust bags with sugar cane left Saturday to create easy oil spill barriers as tons of fuel from a ground ship ship put endangered wildlife at further risk. The government has declared an environmental emergency and France said it was sending aid from its nearby island of Reunion.
Satellite images showed a dark glow scattering in the turquoise waters near wetlands that the government called “very sensitive”.
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“When biodiversity is at risk, there is an urgency to act,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. tweeted Saturday.
Wildlife officials and volunteers transported dozens of baby turtles and rare plants from an island near the game, Ile aux Aigrettes, to the mainland as fears grew that less weather on Sunday could tear Japanese property along its cracked hull.
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A French statement from Reunion on Saturday said a military transport plane was carrying the pollution control equipment to Mauritius and a naval vessel with additional equipment would be sailing for the island nation.
Residents and residents wondered why authorities did not act more quickly after the ship ran aground on July 25 on a reef. Mauritius says the ship, the MV Wakashio, carried nearly 4,000 tons of fuel.
“That’s the big question,” Jean Hugues Gardenne told The Associated Press with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. “Why did that ship sit on that coral reef for so long and do nothing.”
This is the country’s first oil spill, he said, adding that perhaps no one expected the ship to break apart. For days, residents peered at the exact tilted ship when a salvage team arrived and began work, but ocean waves kept the ship afloat.
“She just hit and hit and hit,” Gardenne said.
“All the volunteers are covered in black,” Sunil Dowarkasing, a former Greenpeace strategist and environmentalist who helped clean up, told AFP of Mahebourg, one of the least affected areas.
“We will never be able to recover from this damage. But what we can do is try to reduce it as much as possible.”
Cracks in the hull were discovered a few days ago and the salvage team was quickly evacuated. Some 400 sea trees were deployed to contain the game, but they were not enough.
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth says the game “represents a danger” for the country of 1.3 million people who are heavily dependent on tourism and hard hit by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which is making the trip worldwide limited.
“Our country does not have the skills and expertise to charge stranded ships,” he said Friday. Bad weather has made it impossible to act, and “I worry about what might happen on Sunday when the weather gets worse.”
Strong winds are expected to push the oil cake even further along the mainland rim. A forecast for Meteorological Services for Mauritius for Sunday has advised that seas will be rough with swells above the reefs and “ventures in the open seas are not advised.”
Videos posted online showed oily waters leaping on the mainland, and a man spinning a stick across the surface of the water and then lifting it, dropping black goo. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation is working on freeing seabirds and turtles.
Environmental group Greenpeace Africa warned that tons of diesel and oil were leaking into the water. It shared video of Mauritius residents, until singing “One, Two, Three !,” shook the easy oil barriers into the sea, while crowds of children and adults rushed to make more.
“Thousands of species around the independent lagoons of Blue Bay, Pointe d’Esny and Mahebourg are at risk of drowning in a sea of pollution, with far-reaching consequences for Mauritius’ economy, food security and health,” said Greenpeace’s climate and energy manager. , Bliid Khambule.
The country has also called on the United Nations for urgent assistance, including experts in containment of oil storms and environmental protection.
“We are in a situation of environmental crisis,” said Kavy Ramano, the country’s environment minister.
A police investigation has been opened into possible negligence, the government said.
Online ship trackers showed that the Panama flag was a bulk carrier en route from China to Brazil. The owners of the ship are listed as the Japanese companies Okiyo Maritime Corporation and Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd.
A statement from Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd. said “due to the bad weather and the constant punching in recent days, the ship’s starboard side bunker tank has been broken into and some fuel has escaped into the sea.”
It added: “Nagashiki Shipping takes its environmental responsibilities extremely seriously and will take every effort with partner agencies and contractors to protect the marine environment and prevent further pollution.”
The Mauritius Marine Conservation Society and other local groups warned that the cleanup could take much longer than expected.
“The big urge for all of us is to ‘get involved’,” said the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. “But at the moment, we understand that it can be a waste of time to ‘clean up’ an area where oil can continue to flow.”
