Last Wednesday, the Director of Shipping, Alain Donat was at the center of serious allegations before the Court of Investigation to shed light on the sinking of the MV Wakashio. In fact, Santaram Mooloo and Jogeeswar Seewoobaduth, former director and No. 2 of the Ministry of Environment, said they had asked Alain Donat whether to pump out the fuel oil on board the MV Wakashio. On August 5, according to them, Alain Donat stated that “the risks of an oil spill were minimal. According to Santaram Mooloo, Alain Donat even stressed that the three tanks of the bulk carrier were in good condition. For the former director of the Environment, it was around 10 pm, July 25, that he was warned of the sinking of the MV Wakashio.
Santaram Mooloo said the National Coast Guard had placed booms to protect the Blue Bay Marine Park, Ile-aux-Aigrettes and Ramsar sites. He already knew that containing an oil spill with 4,000 tons of fuel was going to be difficult. “Our resources were limited. We can only contain a 100-ton oil spill,” said Santaram Mooloo. But by early morning on Thursday, August 6, a fine trace of oil had been spotted in the water. “It was a sign that an oil spill was about to ensue”. He thought the operation was a success. “Eighty percent of the fuel oil had been collected. 800 tons were spilled into the water,” he said.
The acting director of the Environment, Jogeeswar Seewoobaduth, seems to agree. Polyeco had to come up with a salvage plan because “it was from the Salvage Team that we learned that there were 4,000 tons of fuel oil. We had to make sure that the proposed plan of action would be appropriate,” he said.
Jogeeswar Seewoobaduth said that, during meetings, the Salvage Master and the Director of Shipping had told him that “the risks of an oil spill were minimal. They even said that “Mauritius has the facilities to contain an oil spill of only 100 tons. According to the Acting Director of the Environment, before the oil spill (August 2 or 3), the company Polyeco had planned to have the necessary equipment to contain the oil.
Thus, the authorities relied on the advice of the salvage team in the case of the MV Wakashio while the department should have the opportunity to make its own assessment of the situation in case of sinking. He believes that the government will amend the law to allow it to give specific instructions to the owner of a vessel to pump the oil on board, all of which will greatly reduce the risk of a fuel spill in the lagoon.
The Court of Investigation into the sinking of the MV Wakashio on July 25, 2020, in the lagoon of Pointe-d’Esny resumed on Thursday, July 8. Among the main witnesses are Devendra Appadu, Health Inspector at the municipality of Beau-Bassin/Rose-Hill, Siddick Nunnoo, fisherman from Suriname and Chundunsingh Seetul, fish merchant from Mahebourg.
Devendra Appadu conducted a field study in the southeast as part of his university thesis. According to his findings, there has been illegal fish catch in the affected areas and improper products have been consumed. For Devendra Appadu, the Ministry of Ocean Economy had banned fishing because it had detected traces of hydrocarbons in the water and these products are carcinogenic. As for the fishermen and merchants, they say that sales are decreasing because people are afraid to consume polluted products.
