Nagashiki Shipping, which owns the bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius and caused a large oil spill, said on Tuesday it has completed scuttling of the front part of the vessel on Monday as instructed by local authorities. Mauritius said last week it would scuttle the ship’s remains at sea in a way that would avoid further pollution or interfere with maritime routes, after taking in recommendations from various groups on how and where to sink the ship to conform with advice of French experts present on the island. The company will continue to collect oil deposits on board and suspended matter while local authorities, people and an oil spill cleaning company are continuing to collect oil that has drifted to the coast, it said. Except for about 1,000 tons of oil that had spilled overboard almost all of the remaining oil on the ship was retrieved by August 12, and almost all lubricant and residues, which remained onboard, collected by August 23, the firm said.
SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA