Mauritian rescuers, despite limited means, have been fighting for a week to avoid a new oil spill. Three Taiwanese fishing boats ran aground on February 23, 2022 near the Pointe-aux-Sables coral reef. Two ships are still prisoners of the place.
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Helicopters follow one another above the ships lying on their sides, at the level of the coral reef of Bain-des-Dames. They transport the men and equipment essential for the cleaning operations of the bunkers containing the fuel oil. The authorities have announced that the longliners contain several tons of diesel. They estimate that one of the ships was carrying 20 tonnes of fuel and the second 80 tonnes.
Défimédia tells us that four tonnes were recovered by Poly-Green. The vessel specializing in the fight against maritime pollution has installed a floating boom near the stranded boats. Insufficient ramparts, according to observers! For the responders’ defence, the weather conditions seriously complicate operations.
Wind, rain and thunderstorms
The cyclones are “forgotten”, however the weather conditions remain delicate, for the coastguards and the sailors of the Poly-Green. Rain, wind, swell and thunderstorms are expected again, this Wednesday, March 2, 2022, written on its site metservice.intnet.mu. If we follow the computer models, these unfavorable conditions will last until the end of the week. They might even deteriorate.
The associations which fight for the protection of the environment in Mauritius wish to be better informed on the progress of the work. They also ask for hours so that their drone pilots can fly over the accident area. The analysis of these images, by independent specialists, would make it possible to offer another look and perhaps a solution…
In one week, the hulls of the two longliners (and not the trawlers) have already suffered a lot. It’s urgent !