Volunteers take part in the cleanup operation in Mahebourg, Mauritius Wednesday Aug. 12, 2020 surrounding the oil spill from the MV Wakashio, a bulk carrier ship that recently ran aground off the southeast coast of Mauritius. Anxious residents of this Indian Ocean island nation have stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves in an effort to stop the oil spill from reaching their shores. (AP Photo/Beekash Roopun-L'express Maurice)

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Mauritius to develop contigency plan to extract remaining oil spill

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Published on: June 16, 2023

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Police and Fire personnel take part in the clean up operation in Mahebourg, Mauritius, Wednesday Aug. 12, 2020, surrounding the oil spill from the MV Wakashio, a bulk carrier ship that recently ran aground off the southeast coast of Mauritius. Anxious residents of this Indian Ocean island nation have stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves in an effort to stop the oil spill from reaching their shores. (AP Photo/Beekash Roopun-L’express Maurice)

The Mauritius government has now activated its National Oil spill contingency plan. While speaking during a live TV update, CGTN Correspondent Liu Feifei noted that Mauritius Vice Prime Minister together with a team of stakeholders ranging from the police commissioner, among many other government agencies such as the National Coast Guard, France Reunion island and expertise from the Chinese embassy is set to draft a proposal that will manage the emergency going forward.

According to Feifei, the Mauritius contingency plan covered for 100 tonnes however the oil spill by MV Wakashio which was believed to be carrying around 3000 tonnes outnumbered the plan.

The operation has been a race against time, she added, amid fears that the MV Wakashio would break up.

‘’Mauritius is on a state of high alert, the new development is that the ship is on the verge of breaking’’, Said Feifei during the live TV update

As of today, what is remaining is around 1500 tonnes of oil set to be pumped out from the ship’s fuel reservoirs.

‘’The reason that amount is still remaining is that it is hard for the salvage people to reach that area, however, the team has managed to extract some of the toxic items that were in the ship’’, added Feifei

There is a high deployment of police in the area as helicopters are hovering around to help with the extraction of small amounts of oil.

Meanwhile the oil spill has been termed as a grave crisis that could lead to a loss of biodiversity.

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