The captain of a tanker that struck a coral reef in Mauritius has been arrested after the ship spilled oil over the nearby pristine coastline, causing an environmental emergency, officials said Wednesday.
The Japanese property MV Wakashio went around on July 25 and started playing oil on August 6. It broke Saturday in half.
The size of the leak, about 1,000 metric tons, is not among the largest spills in history. But its location – an environmentally protected ecosystem of biodiversity reefs, endangered animals and plants, mangrove forests and turquoise lagoons – means it has already caused unusual damage that experts say could turn it around for decades.
On Tuesday, officials announced that the captain and first officer had been arrested and charged with endangering safe navigation.
“After being heard by the court, they have been denied bail and are still in custody,” Inspector Siva Coothen told Reuters.
The government has said it is investigating what caused the ship to hit the reef.
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Meanwhile on Wednesday, two specialist companies, the London-based International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. and the French Le Floch Dépollution, contributing to a tension effort already involving officials from France, India, Japan, the United Nations and the European Union.
They will take part in a thriving grassland campaign led by local residents, who have called 2.5 miles of makeshift floating sheds “bombs” in an attempt to stop the path of the oil.
Most of the ship’s cargo is safely pumped out of the ship – recovering 3,000 of the 4,000 metric tons on board – and most of the oil at sea has been collected, officials say.
The focus now turns to the 20 miles of shoreline contaminated by the spill, according to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. The spill response company, known as ITOPF, was hired by the ship’s insurers, Japan P&I Club, and works with the Mauritian government.
“Since the risk of further contamination of the ship has decreased, the main focus of cleaning activities has been drawn to the coast,” the ITOPF said in a statement. Together with Le Floch Dépollution, it said it had “prepared a comprehensive action plan for cleaning the coastal pipeline for the affected areas” that was signed by the government.
But for this island nation of 1.3 million people, many experts fear that the environmental and economic damage could last a long time – if not permanently in some areas.
Spilled oil bleaches and eventually kills reefs, and can potentially create a devastating knock-on effect for the coral-dependent fish in this fragile ecosystem.
Local fishermen are unable to work the polluted water, and not talk about the potential visual impact for a country that relies on tourism for 11 percent of its gross domestic product.
Reuters contributed to this report.
