Ship Wrecking Apart

Shipwrecked on the Mauritian coastline of Pointe d’Esny late July, Wakashio, the vessel carrying just under 4,000 tonnes of oil and 200 tonnes of diesel which has already been spilling its contents from the ship’s hold over the last several days; threatened to break in two on Sunday.

Mauritian Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, shared his fears with the media, “The cracks had deepened. The situation is even worse.” S similar sentiment echoed by Vassen Kauppaymuthoo, an oceanographer and environmental engineer, “I think it is already too late. If the ship breaks in two, the situation will be out of control.”

Local Volunteers on the Scene

On Sunday evening, the small nation in the Indian Ocean was preparing for the worst. Thousands of local mask-clad and glove-wearing volunteers flocked out to aid Intervention teams collecting waste, and weaving hemp and cloth booms in at attempt to contain the oil – and in spite of turbulent water conditions hampering their efforts as the fear of a potentially even greater ecological disaster permeated the scene.

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Source: AfricaNews