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Cyclone Mlati is expected to pass near Reunion on the evening of Sunday February 20. A fortnight ago, Cyclone Batsirai hit the island. An oil tanker ran aground, releasing a slick of hydrocarbons. It is now threatening to break up.
On February 3, a Mauritian ship ran aground south of Reunion, near the town of Saint-Philippe. Cyclone Batsirai was then closest to the island. The emergency services had taken several hours, in the heart of the storm, to evacuate the crew. Battered by the swell for more than 15 days, the tanker is now threatening to fracture. Unable to tow it, breaches of several meters formed in the hull.
During the week, with the approach of a new cyclone, the technicians removed the masts and the protective elements of the boat. Part of the pumped fuel was airlifted onto an anti-pollution vessel to limit leaks into the Indian Ocean. Thirty cubic meters of oil, deemed impossible to pump, is still spilling. It threatens to form on the surface of the water layers of pollution of several kilometers.