Indian Ocean faces a growing threat of fuel spill
Fears of ecological devastation keep increasing despite immense local clean-up operation underway in the island nation.
Environmentalists said they were starting to find dead fish as well as seabirds covered in oil, increasing fears of an ecological disaster despite a massive local clean-up operation that includes making floating booms from leaves and human hair.
Jugnauth said the leak from a damaged oil tank on board the stricken vessel, the MV Wakashio, had stopped but that the ship still had 2,000 tonnes of oil in two other, undamaged tanks.
“The salvage team has observed several cracks in the ship hull, which means that we are facing a very serious situation,” Jugnauth said in a televised speech, parts of which were made available to Reuters news agency by his office.
“We should prepare for a worst-case scenario. It is clear that at some point the ship will fall apart.”
Mauritius has declared a state of emergency and former colonial ruler France has sent aid in what environmental group Greenpeace said could be a major ecological crisis. Japan has also sent help.
Credits: Nes Agencies/Al Jazeera
