The Japanese owner of a bulk carrier, which grounded and spilled 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil on the island of Mauritius, said there has been little progress on removing the ship's remaining stern section.
The Mauritius government was hopeful that what is left of the wreck of the 203,000-dwt Wakashio (built 2007) would be removed early this year.
In a statement to mark one year since the disaster, owner Nagashiki Shipping said that progress has been halted by poor weather and sea conditions.
China’s Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering had been contracted to remove the wreck late last year and started work in early December.
Nagashiki said: “Since mid-March however, adverse sea and weather conditions at the site have prevented work from being carried out. Although work cannot be resumed until sea and weather conditions calm, Lianyungang Dali remains on standby on site.”
The Wakashio, which was on charter to Mitsui OSK Lines when it crashed into the island, was owned by Nagashiki affiliate Okiyo Maritime.
Nagashiki said it did not expect work to begin again until late September when weather conditions improve.
The forward section of the wreck was floated out to sea and scuttled last year.
Clean-up complete
Nagashiki said the clean-up of 30 km of coastline, which was stained by the oil spill, is now complete and was signed off by the Mauritius government on 27 January.
Nagashiki said it has put measures in place to contend with possible pollution from the remaining wreck.
“In case of any further pollution from the remaining section of the vessel, we have appointed a cleaning contractor to deploy equipment to prevent the spread of oil, and have placed our oil spill treatment team on standby,” the company said.
As TradeWinds earlier reported, the ship’s master and chief officer have been charged and remain detained in Mauritius. Some other crew members are being kept on the island as witnesses.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation described the seafarers' continued confinement as another example of the criminalisation of seafarers.
The union has written to the Mauritius government calling for the release of the seafarers forced to stay in Mauritius without charge.
According to the evidence presented so far, the ship ran aground when crew sailed too close to the coastline in search of a mobile phone connection.
“We will continue to cooperate fully with the people of Mauritius and the relevant authorities in Japan, in order to determine the cause of the incident, protect the environment and complete the removal of the wreckage,” Nagashiki said.
