Mauritius oil spill: Grounded Japanese ship splits in two

Synopsis

A Japanese oil tanker that has spilled more than 1,000 tons of oil runs aground off the coast of Mauritius and subsequently breaks in two. Officials report that the split results from a crack in a cargo hold after the ship's condition deteriorates overnight. Emergency teams and thousands of volunteers race to siphon off the remaining fuel on board. Christian Booger, director of the Safe Seas Network, highlights that Mauritius was unprepared for such a disaster despite being close to a major shipping lane. He notes that the government had received substantial capacity building assistance and had conducted a workshop on oil spill prevention in March of this year. However, lessons from a similar incident in 2016 were not learned, leading to inadequate preparation and equipment for this spill. The response to the disaster raises questions about the effectiveness of the oil spill contingency plan and the actions of the salvage company involved.