Two dead as Mauritius oil spill clean-up boats collide

PORT LOUIS: The prime minister of Mauritius said two sailors were dead and two others missing after a tugboat assisting in a major oil spill clean-up off the Indian Ocean island collided with a barge.

A search was under way for the missing crew after the accident late on Monday as the boats returned from where a tanker crashed into a reef in late July, leaking more than 1,000 tonnes of oil into the island’s picturesque waters.

“It is tragic that we lost two of the tugboat crew, while two others are still missing,” Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said after visiting rescued sailors in hospital on Tuesday.

“We are doing everything we can to locate them, with all our means and with the help of fishermen in the area. On behalf of the government, I extend my sympathies to the family.”

The spill was declared an ecological disaster for the Indian Ocean archipelago, and a massive cleanup operation was launched to scrub the pristine coastline and azure seas of thick sludge.

The collision between the tugboat and an unmanned barge which it was towing occurred off the northeast coast as the boats were returning from the spill site where the MV Wakashio ran aground, the barge operator Taylor Smith Group said.

The eight crew aboard the stricken tug abandoned ship, the Mauritius Ports Authority said, adding there were rough seas at the time.

Four were later rescued and taken to shore, officials said.

Jugnauth said the tug was transporting some fuel at the time “but there is no risk of a leak”.

The prime minister promised an investigation into the accident.

He faces growing anger over his administration’s handling of the oil spill, which has caused untold damage to a protected coastline that sustains the island’s economy.

An estimated 75,000 people marched at the weekend in the capital Port Louis, demanding answers from the government in the biggest public demonstration in 40 years.

The washing ashore of some 47 dead melon-headed whales in recent days only spurred further outrage, with environmental groups blaming the oil spill for their mysterious deaths.