Redress sought for oil spill
Environmentalists say 35 years of work threatened as 1 000 tons of oil pollute coastline
MAURITIUS says it is seeking compensation from the owners of a Japanese ship that spilled oil after it grounded in the shallow waters off the Indian Ocean island nation, while urgent efforts continue to pump out the remaining fuel.
The MV Wakashio has spilled 1 000 tons of its cargo of 4 000 tons of oil into the sea, fouling the coastline of Mauritius, including a protected wetlands area. That threatens 35 years of work to restore the area, environmental activists said yesterday.
An estimated 2 500 tons of fuel has been pumped from the ship, stranded on a coral reef at Pointe d’Esny, a sanctuary for rare wildlife.
Workers are racing to empty the ship before it breaks up in heavy seas and further pollutes the shore.
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said Mauritius will seek compensation for the extensive environmental damage from the owner, Nagashiki Shipping. He has declared the spill a national disaster.
Jugnauth’s government is under pressure to explain why it did not take immediate action to empty the ship when it ran aground on July 25.
Two weeks later, after pounding by waves, the ship cracked and began leaking. Some of the turquoise waters surrounding Mauritius were stained a muddy black, fouling mangrove wetlands and drenching water birds and reptiles with sticky oil.
Thousands of Mauritians have been working for days to reduce the damage by making improvised booms from fabric and stuffed with straw and sugar cane leaves to try to contain the oil’s spread. Others have scooped up oil from the shallow waters. It is estimated that nearly 400 tons that spilled have been removed from the sea.
France sent a naval ship, military aircraft and technical advisers from the nearby island of Reunion after Mauritius appealed for help in the wake of the spill last week.
Japanese experts have arrived on the island and are assisting the effort. The UN is sending experts.
“It’s essential that the ship is emptied before it breaks up,” said Jean Hugue Gardenne of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. “Quite a lot of oil has been pumped out in the past few days, but we cannot let up. There is so much damage already.”
The wildlife foundation is alarmed that the oil spill will ruin the work that it has done since 1985 to restore that area, Gardenne said.
“We have planted about 200 000 indigenous trees to restore the coastal forest,” he said. “We re-introduced endangered birds, including the pink pigeon, the olive white-eye and the critically endangered Mauritius fody to the Isle aux Aigrettes.
“Now all this is threatened as the oil is seeping into the soil and the coral reefs.”
Mauritian volunteers fished dead eels from oily waters off the Indian Ocean island’s most pristine beaches.
The ship, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef and began leaking oil last week, raising fears of a major ecological crisis.
Activists told Reuters that dead eels were floating in the water and dead starfish washed in the sticky black liquid. Crabs and seabirds are also dying.
“We don’t know what may happen further with the boat, it may crack more,” said clean-up volunteer Yvan Luckhun.
The ship is still holding 2 000 tons of oil and it is expected to eventually break up, Jugnauth said the country must brace for the worst.