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Japanese experts on their way to Mauritius to participate in the clean-up

2020-08-19T06:04:13.477Z


A new team of Japanese experts left Wednesday August 19 for Mauritius, carrying with them a special absorbent material, in order to participate in the pollution control efforts after the leak of a thousand tons of fuel oil from a beached Japanese boat since the end of July. " The oil spill from the stranded ship has caused serious damage to the people of Mauritius, whose economy depends largely o...


A new team of Japanese experts left Wednesday August 19 for Mauritius, carrying with them a special absorbent material, in order to participate in the pollution control efforts after the leak of a thousand tons of fuel oil from a beached Japanese boat since the end of July.

" The oil spill from the stranded ship has caused serious damage to the people of Mauritius, whose economy depends largely on its beautiful ocean and on tourism, " Yukihiro Haisa, an official told reporters before departure. from the Japanese Environment Ministry, which said it was “ upset ”.

Read also: Oil spill in Mauritius: a succession of errors at the origin of the disaster

Six members of the team must reach Mauritius from Japan, and will be joined on site by the leader of the group from New York. The official added that the Mauritian authorities had requested that the team assess the damage of the fuel spilled from the MV Wakashio on the coral reefs.

Read also: Mauritius: arrest of the captain of the boat at the origin of the oil spill

The bulk carrier, whose owner and shipowner are Japanese, ran aground on July 25 on a reef at Pointe d'Esny, in the south-east of Mauritius, with 3,800 tonnes of fuel oil and 200 tonnes of diesel on board.

Between 800 and 1000 tonnes of fuel oil escaped

Between 800 and 1000 tons of fuel oil escaped from its gutted sides and soiled the coasts, in particular protected areas sheltering mangrove forests and endangered species.

We want to use our technical know-how to participate in remediation efforts ,” said Noriaki Sakaguchi, an environmental expert with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica). Recovering a damaged ecosystem takes a very long time, ” he added.

The team carried with them 20 cases of a special product, an amount capable of absorbing a total of up to 1,200 liters of oil. The product, which was used last year to combat an oil spill in Japan, is a donation from the Tokyo company M-TechX.

We want to see how the product could be used to clean the coast and the complex root structure of mangrove forests polluted by fuel oil, ” explained Yukihiro Haisa.

Japan had already dispatched a first team of six experts to Mauritius, including coast guards and diplomats, to help with efforts to contain pollution.

Strong criticism of governments

The Japanese and Mauritian governments have come under heavy criticism for their slow response to prevent a large-scale oil spill. The Indian captain of the bulk carrier was arrested on Tuesday in Mauritius.

No explanation has yet been provided as to why the ship, en route to Brazil from Singapore, had approached so close to the island.

Relief operations made it possible to pump some 3,000 tonnes of oil out of the 4,000 that the MV Wakashio was carrying before it broke in two on Sunday, preventing a much larger ecological disaster.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-08-19

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