The captain of the Japanese Ship that hit a coral reef and began to leak thousand tons of oil in Mauritius waters was arrested on Wednesday. His name is Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar and he is an Indian. The Mauritius Police who arrested the captain said that he has been charged with Endangering Safe Navigation.
MV Wakashio, the ship in focus, is owned by Nagashiki Shipping Company struck a coral reef on July 25 while on the waters of the Island nation Mauritius. It was carrying 4000 tons of fuel oil and began leaking oil amounting to more than 1000 tons since August 6 and that has killed sea lives around the area.
The turquoise waters of Mauritius turned black in many areas and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth declared it a national disaster. Mauritian Wildlife Foundation members said that the damage is already done to the restored waters and coastal forest areas.
The COVID scenario has affected the island nation’s economy already and this ecological damage will further affect the fishermen and those who depend on the waters for their livelihood. Apart from that the huge damage that normal eyes don’t see is that the years of restoration work made by eco-activists are now damaged and it is not just the eels, fish, crabs, seabirds but the mangrove forests and protected wetlands have also been affected. Mauritius looks to collect compensation for this ecological damage from the Japanese company.
Earlier, Kiyoaki Nagashiki, CEO of Nagashiki Shipping Company said the company apologizes to the people of Mauritius for the accident and made a promise to “continue to do our utmost to remove the leaked oil and keep environmental impacts to a minimum.”