Mauritians cut off their hair to soak up oil slick as shipwreck threatens to ruin beaches

MAURITIANS are cutting off their hair and stuffing it into fabric tubes in an attempt to stop a tide of oil washing out of a huge shipwreck on to their pristine Indian Ocean beaches.

Photographs show locals covered in black sludge, wearing masks and gloves, carrying buckets of oil away from the shore. Teams of volunteers have woven cloth bags and stuffed them with straw and hair, in the hope that they will soak up some of the oil.

Thousands of volunteers and salvage crews have been working around the clock, but there are fears that the marooned ship, which is carrying 2,000 tons of fuel, will split in two.

Romina Tello, founder of the Mauritius Conscious ecotourism agency, told Reuters that locals were making booms to float on the sea out of sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles and hair that people were voluntarily cutting off. “Hair absorbs oil but not water,” Ms Tello said. “There’s been a big campaign around the island to get the hair.”

It is understood that many hairdressers are also taking part in the effort.

MV Wakashias, a Japanese bulk carrier, was en route from China to Brazil when it ran aground near Pointe d’esny on the island nation’s south-eastern coast on July 25. The 1,000ft vessel was carrying 200 tons of diesel and 3,800 tons of bunker fuel.

At least 1,000 tons of oil is estimated to have leaked out of the ship causing catastrophic damage to an area filled with reefs, protected wetlands and sanctuaries for rare wildlife.

So far, about 500 tons have been salvaged. But worse could be in store. Some 2,500 tons of oil remain on the ship and on Sunday, Pravind Jugnauth, the Mauritian prime minister, said cracks in the ship were growing and the vessel could soon break in two.

Vassen Kauppaymuthoo, an environmental engineer, said: “I think it is already too late. If the ship breaks in two, the situation will be out of control.”

Mitsui OSK Lines, which operates the vessel, said it would “make all-out efforts to resolve the case”. It said it had tried to place its own containment booms around the vessel but had not been successful because of rough seas.

Police have launched an investigation and are expected to take statements from the ship’s captain and crew.

Aerial images show the scale of the disaster, with clear seas stained black by sludge. Mauritius and its 1.3million people depend on the sea for food and ecotourism and it has been hailed as a conservation success story.

‘I think it is already too late. If the ship breaks in two, the situation will be out of control’