Priority was given to the Wen Hung Dar 168 in the refloating operation. This fishing vessel contained 80 tonnes of fuel oil on its own. The other two vessels, the Maan Yu Feng 1 and the Maan Yu Feng 168, have 40 tonnes, so the mission is to extract 120 tonnes of fuel oil as quickly as possible from the tanks of the three wrecked vessels in Bain des Dames. Even though the weather conditions were not favourable, 14,000 litres of fuel oil could be extracted till now.
Simultaneous operations
The refloating operations can only take place from 06:00 to 18:00. In addition, operations have to be interrupted during swells and rain. Priority was thus given to the first wrecked vessel, which contains around 80 tonnes of fuel oil on board. The team is made up of the Salvage Team, Poly Green Ltd and the Vasileos P, an anti-pollution tug from the Greek company, Eco Fuel, the Mauritius Ports Authority, the National Coast Guard, the Police Helicopter Squadron and other police elements. There are two ongoing operations. Off the coast of Pointe-aux-Sables, the oil is refloated and the small tanks connected to cables are transported by helicopter to be stored on a truck under police surveillance. To date, 14,000 litres of fuel oil have been extracted. There are 66 tonnes left to be extracted from Wen Hung Dar 168. Once all the contents of the tank have been pumped out, the boat will be in a position to be towed away without causing major pollution.
Pumping impossible in Bain des Dames
The pumping of fuel oil remains rather difficult for the Maan Yu Feng 1 and Maan Yu Feng 168 which are stranded at Bain des Dames for the same cause, namely the continuing bad weather and this is preventing the installation of the absorption tanks. They are currently surrounded by booms to prevent any heavy oil leakage. The weather has remained uncertain during the day and this is delaying the operations. To move things forward, the team decided to lighten the load of the two boats as much as possible by moving their contents on board. This exercise would prepare the other two vessels for refloating exercises and a possible towing operation.
The operations on Friday 25 February ended at around 6.30pm. Operations will resume this Saturday with the same team, hoping that the weather will be milder to allow for more successful pumping. A total of 104 tonnes of heavy oil still needs to be extracted to avoid any black tide disaster in this part of the island.
