(Reuters) – A large Japanese man who ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological crisis around the Indian Ocean island was damaged, the government said Saturday.
MV Wakashio’s condition worsened saturday morning morning and separated in the afternoon, Mauritius’ National Crisis Committee said.
“At approximately 4:30 p.m., a primary detachment from the ship’s bow segment was observed,” he said in a statement. “Based on specialized advice, the towing plan is being implemented.”
The shipment hit a coral reef on July 25, speping about 1,000 tons of fuel and endangering corals, fish and marine species in what some scientists have called the country’s worst environmental disaster.
On Friday, the shipment’s residual oil leaked into the ocean, Mauritius Marine Conservation Society president Jacqueline Sauzier told Reuters on Saturday morning.
Authorities deployed barricades on Saturday to absorb oil around the ship.
The Crisis Committee stated that special attention was being paid to sensitive sites such as Blue Bay Marine Park, Aigrettes Island and Ramsar National Site at Pointe d’Esny.
The weather is expected to worsen in the coming days with waves of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters), the government said.
Most of the oil from the ships is pumped, the Mauritius government said Thursday, however, there are still 166 tons of internal fuel oil and the government was looking to eliminate it.
Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Saturday that Tokyo planned to send a team of ministry officials and experts to assess the damage. MV Wakashio is owned by Nagashiki Shipping in Japan and is chartered through Mitsui OSK Lines.
Scientists say the full effect on the spill is still ongoing, but the damage can affect only Mauritius and its tourism-dependent economy in the coming decades.
Chances are that the removal of the shipment takes months. The former colonial power, France, said it would go blank.
(Chart: Mauritius oil spill – https://graphics.reuters.com/MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT/rlgvdnyzavo/MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT.jpg)
(Report through Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo and Omar Mohammed; edited through Shri Navaratnam, William Mallard and Frances Kerry)
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