A second team of Japanese experts left for Mauritius on Wednesday with special oil-absorbent materials to help clean up tonnes of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned ship after it ran aground earlier this month. The team is bringing 20 boxes of special oil-absorbent materials capable of soaking up 1,200 litres (265 gallons) of oil in total. “The oil leak from the stranded ship has caused severe damage to the people of Mauritius, the economy of which largely relies on tourism and the beautiful ocean,” environment ministry official Yukihiro Haisa told reporters. Haisa said the government of Mauritius has asked the team to assess the leak’s effect on local coral reefs. Officials have yet to reveal why the ship, which was making its way from Singapore to Brazil, came so close to the island, which is now reeling from ecological disaster.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA