A Taiwanese fishing boat, the Wen Hang Dar 168, ran aground on Wednesday morning, February 23, on the reefs of Bain-des-Dames, in the “Port Area”. The Wen Hung Dar No. 168, to run aground on a sandbank in Pointe-aux-Sables, 897 m from the coast. That, with 90 tons of fuel in its tanks. The boat, which is 37 meters long, has 25 crew members on board. A request for assistance was made at 6:55 a.m. this morning. The relevant authorities are working on an evacuation plan.
The ship launched an SOS appeal to the Mauritian authorities at 02:15 this morning. Inspector Shiva Coothen reassures that all measures have been taken by the authorities concerned, to avoid an ecological tragedy. A tug of the Mauritius Ports Authority tried in vain to refloat the ship, due to the current state of the sea, said Inspector Coothen. Members of the National Coast Guard are closely monitoring the situation, he says. The Disaster Management Committee has been alerted.
To explain the presence of the boat in Bain-des-Dames, Inspector Shiva Coothen predicted that because of Cyclone Emnati, like all ships, the longliner had to leave the harbour and drop anchor. “The current, the swells and the gusts manhandled him and he ended up stuck on a sandbank, not really the reefs.”
A Polygreen team is mobilized on site. It will take action in the event of a diesel spill. The anti-pollution ship Vasileos P of the Greek company that lent a hand to the Reunionese following the grounding of the Tresta Star is on its way to Pointe-aux-Sables.
