TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Japan ramps up aid to Mauritius after oil spill
Change Size
This aerial view taken on August 9, 2020 shows the site of containment operations for the leaked oil coming from the vessel MV Wakashio, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, that ran aground near Blue Bay Marine Park off the coast of south-east Mauritius. - France on August 8, 2020 dispatched aircraft and technical advisers from Reunion to Mauritius after the prime minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill polluting the island nation's famed reefs, lagoons and oceans. Rough seas have hampered efforts to stop fuel leaking from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio, which ran aground two weeks ago, and is staining pristine waters in an ecologically protected marine area off the south-east coast. (AFP/-)
J
apan is sending a second team of experts to help clean up more than 1,000 tons of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned bulk carrier into pristine waters off the coast of Mauritius.
The decision came as the Mauritian government vowed to seek compensation from the ship's owner and insurer for "all losses and damages" related to the disaster.
Tokyo has already dispatched one team of six experts, including a coastguard expert and diplomats, to aid in the response.
The new team of seven experts is to leave Japan on Wednesday and will carry materials such as sorbent to help clean up the oil, Japan's embassy in Mauritius said in a statement Monday.
"The oil spill has caused serious damage over the southeast coastal environment of Mauritius and will have an inevitable impact on the country's tourism industry as well," the statement said.
"Japan has decided to dispatch the team out of comprehensive and holistic consideration of all circumstances, including the request of urgent assistance from the government of the Republic of Mauritius and the friendly relationship between the two countries," it said.
The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on July 25 and began oozing oil more than a week later.
Both the Mauritian and Japanese governments have come under fire for not doing more immediately to prevent a large-scale spill.
Japanese firm Nagashiki, the ship's owner, has pledged to "sincerely" respond to requests for compensation over damage to the marine environment.
The ship split in half over the weekend, and a portion remains stranded on the reef.
At a meeting Monday, the national crisis committee formed in response to the spill determined that it was "still risky to remove the remaining small amount of residual oil in the engine room" of that portion of the ship, according to a statement issued Monday night.
"Oil-pumping operations should resume as soon as the weather permits," the statement said.
The committee approved a plan to tow the larger section of the boat, which is not stuck on the reef, eight nautical miles "from the outer limit of the reef".
Help from India, France
Thousands of Mauritians volunteered day and night to clean the powder-blue waters that have long attracted honeymooners and tourists, before the clean-up operation was fully handed over to experts.
Greenpeace has termed the spill the "worst ecological disaster" in the country's history, threatening wetlands that boast rare mangrove forests and scores of fish and coral species.
Japan is not the only country to send aid.
A 10-member team from India's coastguard arrived in Mauritius on Sunday with 28 tons of equipment including booms, barges and skimmers.
And on Monday, Sebastien Lecornu, France's minister for overseas territories, said Paris would send three experts to help Mauritius determine what to do with the wreck.
France had already sent military planes, ships and equipment to help contain the oil spill, which also threatens the French island of La Reunion southwest of Mauritius.
