Mauritius arrests captain of oil spill ship
Ecologists had raised fears of catastrophic damage to the island’s coastline following leakage from a Japanese-ownedbulk oil carrier
Mauritius has arrested the captain of the ship that ran aground off the coast of the country and caused a devastating oil spill.
The police confirmed that the captain and his second-in-command were arrested on 18 August.
Police spokesman Inspector Shiva Coothen said the two are facing charges. According to him, other crew members of the grounded ship will also be interrogated as the investigation continues.
“We arrested the captain and his second-in-command today. They were taken to court on a provisionary charge. The investigation continues from tomorrow with the interrogation of other crew members,” Inspector Coothen said.
The oil spill happened on 25 July when the Japanese-owned MV Wakashio struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island.
Mauritius immediately announced a state of environmental emergency as the spillage threatened the ecosystem. Emergency crews have now managed to remove most of the ship’s remaining oil and investigations into the incident are under way.
Marine life in danger
The oil spillage off the coast of Mauritius appeared so damaging that the government asked fishermen to stay away from the waters.
It also endangered the coral, fish and other marine life, in what many have described as the island’s worst ecological disaster.
A maritime official said the coastguard had repeatedly tried to reach the ship to warn that its course was dangerous but was ignored.
“The route set five days before the crash was wrong. The boat navigation system should have signalled that to the crew, and it seems the crew ignored it,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
“The boat did also fail to send out an SOS [when it ran aground], and did not respond to attempts by the coastguard to get in touch.”
Meanwhile, an official from the Japan International Co-operation Agency, said the environmental effects of the spillage have been limited.
“Since oil has been largely removed and the amount of the remaining oil is small, the impact of the operation on the environment is expected to be limited,” the official said.
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