an oil tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel oil sinks in the Gulf of Gabès

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The Tunisian authorities evacuated the crew of seven people on board the ship in distress.

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Towards a pollution of Tunisian waters? An oil tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel, leaving Egypt for Malta, sank on Saturday April 16 in the Gulf of Gabès, off the south-eastern coast of Tunisia. “The ship sank this morning in Tunisian territorial waters. For the moment, there is no leak”said the spokesman for the local court, adding that a “disaster prevention commission will meet to decide on the measures to be taken”.

The tanker xelo (registered IMO 7618272) of medium size and flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea, was heading for the island of Malta from the port of Damietta, Egypt. To take shelter, in the face of bad weather conditions, the ship had asked to enter Tunisian territorial waters on Friday evening.

While about 7 km off the coast of the Gulf of Gabès, the tanker began to take on water, which seeped into the engine room, rising to almost two meters in height, according to a press release from the Tunisian Ministry of the Environment. The Tunisian authorities then evacuated the crew of seven people on board the vessel in distress.

The Ministries of Defence, Interior, Transport and Customs are working to avoid “a marine environmental disaster in the region and to limit its repercussions”assured the Ministry of the Environment.


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