The World Daily
Oil vessel grounded near Mauritius

Photo:TWD

 

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | MARCH 10th 2021

 

Mauritius armed forces and coastguard had been deployed, following the news of a grounded Chinese oil vessel that had been stranded near the Indian Ocean archipelago carrying a dangerous amount of oil.

The situation marks the second such event to occur within the span of a year, with a similar incident involving a stranded oil vessel having occurred last July of 2020. The previous vessel carried 1,000 tonnes of leaking oil, marking the worst environmental disaster that Mauritius has yet experienced.

The current grounded trawler, marked as a Chinese vessel and named the Lurong Yuan Yu, is said to be carrying a much more manageable 130 tonnes of oil. A distress call had been sent out by the vessel’s captain on Sunday, alongside emergency flares to announce the incident.

The vessel ran aground on the West coast coral reefs of Mauritius on March 7, while it had been queuing to enter the port for the purposes of bunkering.

It was later announced on Mondays after a careful inspection of the hull of the ship that there was “no leak, no breach” to be found according to Fisheries Minister Sudheer Maudhoo. “The pumping operation will start tomorrow, and will last four to five days. The authorities will also try to refloat the fishing vessel.”

The pumping operation began on Tuesday, with Mauritius workers carefully and securely removing the oil from the ship. The quick response to the incident is considered to be a vast improvement in comparison to the last incident in July, with the Japanese Wakashio that had bled its oil reserves over the course of two weeks before a response was initiated.

The 4,000 tonnes of oil aboard the Wakashio did not begin to leak from the vessel until about a week after its initial grounding, leading to many people demanding that the present government step down. The ecological disaster that followed is still being felt by the Mauritius coastline today. Mangroves, corals and various marine wildlife had been exposed to the toxic chemicals causing severe backlash among environmentalists.

A total of 1,000 tonnes had leaked into the ocean at the time, despite the increasing number of volunteers who had stepped up to help clean up the incident.

 

Local newspaper L'Express reported that police helicopters are assisting in the efforts to remove the oil from the grounded ship, but even so, the operation may take a total of five days at the very least before any assurances can be made about safety.

“We hope to pump out all the fuel on board by tomorrow or the next day, then after four to five days, we will carry out a salvage operation to remove the ship,” Maudhoo stated.

According to the environment ministry, samples of the water around the grounded ship have been taken in order to assess more fully whether or not any unnoticeable pollution is present in the waters. Booms have also been deployed to help protect a nearby bird sanctuary and marine park, as a precaution in case a leak does occur.

In the event that a leak does occur, the surrounding communities that heavily rely on fishing may find themselves in trouble. Tourism may take yet another hit in Mauritius, worsening the already poor tourist situation brough on by the COVID-19 travel restrictions as well as the previous July 2020 oil spill.

It doesn’t look like there will be a spill – and if there is one, it won’t be comparable to the previous spill, but would still be a large ecological burden to handle for the country. International assistance would need to be called for, and the response would need to be far more immediate. Thus far, the situation appears to be under control as Maudhoo assures there is “Nothing to be worried about.”

 

By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2021