Stranded oil tanker threatens Mauritius

(ANSA) - PORT LOUIS, 8 AUG - The tourist paradise of the island of Mauritius is threatened by an environmental catastrophe due to the stranding of an oil tanker.
    The southwestern Indian Ocean country east of Madagascar has announced that crude oil is leaking from a ship, the MV Wakashio, which has run aground in the southeast of the island.
   The admission of an unspecified "oil leak" was made by the Ministry of the Environment asking fishing tourists to stay away from the Blue Bay, Pointed'Esny and Mahebourg lagoons.
    The tanker, flying the Panamanian flag, belongs to a Japanese company and ran aground on July 25 without consequences for the crew. All in all empty, the 101-ton tanker launched in 2007 still carried 200 tons of diesel and 3,800 of its own fuel, according to local media. The stranding took place at Pointe d'Esny, inserted between the wetlands of international importance protected by the Ramsar Convention, and near the BlueBay marine park.