The boat “Wakashio” failed in the summer of 2020 on a coral reef southeast of Mauritius, relaxing more than 1,000 tons of fuel oil and causing the most serious oil tide as the archipelago has never known.
Le Monde with AFP
They have been convicted of the worst oil tide as the coasts of Mauritius have known. The captain and the second of the ship Wakashio – whose stranding in the summer of 2020 is at the origin of the disaster – have been sentenced, Monday, December 27, to twenty months in prison, learned the France-Presse agency with court.
“The Court took into consideration the fact that the two accused pleaded guilty and apologized. The pronounced sentence is twenty months in prison,” said Judge, Ida Dookhy Rambarrun. The Japanese bulk carrier had fallen on July 25, 2020 on a coral reef to the south-east of Mauritius, relaxing more than 1,000 tonnes of oil in its crystalline waters.
The Indian captain, Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, who recognized during the hearing he had drunk at an evening organized aboard the ship, was found guilty of “endangering the safety of navigation “, as well as its second Sri-Lankan Hithant suburban Janendra Tilakaratna, by a Tribunal de Port-Louis.
Some 3 800 tons of oil on board
The Wakashio, Japanese bulk on Panamanian flag, made Singapore road to Brazil, at its edge some 3,800 tonnes of fuel and 200 tons of diesel. “A birthday party had taken place on board and I had consumed alcohol in moderation,” said the captain during his trial, adding having given instructions to approach Mauritian waters to capture the telephone network , to allow the crew members to contact their family.
“The sea was bad but visibility was clear and navigation could be safe (…) At one point, the ship could no longer move and touched the seabed,” he added. “As I had drunk a few glasses, it did not seem useful to intervene and it did not come to the mind that we were navigating as closely.” The two men apologized for the accident.
This oil tide was the worst maritime pollution in the history of the country, which depends on its waters for its food security and ecotourism, in an area that matters among the most beautiful coral reefs in the world. The southeast of the Mauritian coast has two classified sites: Blue Bay, known for its corals, and the tip of Esny, rich in mangroves – critical ecosystems facing global warming.
From the first days, the inhabitants had mobilized, working tirelessly with ways of fortune to stem the pollution. In the months that followed, thousands of people demonstrated on the island, including the management of the oil tide by the government.