Mauritius is racing against time to reduce oil spill damage

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Mauritius is racing against time to reduce oil spill damage

August 18th, 2020

Awake Goy

Local and foreign volunteer support forces, international organisations and other countries are helping Mauritius race against time to handle a serious oil spill caused by a Japanese freighter that ran aground on the high seas late last month.

The MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned bulk carrier, which struck a coral reef off the coast of Mauritius in late July and has spilled more than 1,000 tons of fuel, broke in half at around 16.00 on Saturday.

The ship ran aground on July 25 with around 4,000 tons of fuel leaking into the waters. Although officials reported that most of the fuel was removed before the ship split, it was believed that about 90 tons were still on board.