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.
