The captain of a cargo ship that struck a coral reef near Mauritius was arrested and questioned about an alleged party that was said to be ongoing as the vessel ran aground.
The MV Wakashio struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on July 25 and began spilling oil on August 6, prompting the government to announce a state of environmental emergency.
The spill spread over a vast area of endangered corals, affecting fish and other marine life in what some scientists have called the country's worst ecological disaster. Emergency crews removed most of the ship's remaining oil before it split apart on Saturday.
The Japanese-owned vessel's black box is being examined, and crew members are now facing questions about why the vessel, which had been heading from Singapore to Brazil, was so near to the shore, The Times reports.
A maritime official with knowledge of the incident, who asked not to be named, said the crew had been questioned about reports they were having a birthday party on board, but added it was not clear yet if the party had been held at the same time that the ship ran aground or earlier in the day.
The captain, identified by police as Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, 58, and his first officer were charged with endangering safe navigation and appeared at court in Port Louis, a police spokesperson said.
The Mauritius coastguard had repeatedly tried to reach the ship to warn that its course was dangerous but had received no reply, the maritime official said.
'The route set five days before the crash was wrong and the boat navigation system should have signalled that to the crew and it seems the crew ignored it. The boat did also fail to send out an SOS (when it ran aground), and did not respond to attempts by the coastguard to get in touch,' the official said.
The official confirmed that the crew had been questioned about reports they were having a birthday party, and denied media reports that the ship had sailed close to land seeking a Wi-Fi signal, saying that looking for a phone signal would not have required sailing so close to land.
A national television network had reported that the captain told the court the ship was sailing coastline to get a phone signal, something he had done before when sailing through those waters.
He was not in charge of the ship at the time, he said, the ship was not on autopilot and there was bad weather, according to the report.
Scientists say the full impact of the spill is still unfolding but the damage could affect Mauritius and its tourism-dependent economy for decades. Removing the ship is likely to take months.
The official noted it was the second accident in the area in four years and said the government might establish a signal station nearby to try to ward off future disasters.
Mauritius National Crisis Committee said on Wednesday it planned to scuttle the ship's remains at sea at a yet to be determined date. It would do so in a way that would avoid further pollution or interfere with maritime routes, it said in a statement.
Environmental group Greenpeace said the action would lead to more pollution.
'Sinking this vessel would risk biodiversity and contaminate the ocean with large quantities of heavy metal toxins, threatening other areas as well, notably the French island of La Réunion,' Happy Khambule of Greenpeace Africa said in a statement.
Nagashiki Shipping said it would support the crew and their families.
'We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of inconvenience to everyone involved, including everyone in Mauritius, due to this grounding accident and oil spill,' it said in a statement.
Scientists say the full impact of the spill is still unfolding but the damage could affect Mauritius and its tourism-dependent economy for decades. Removing the ship is likely to take months.
The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July with 4,000 tonnes of fuel.
The Mauritius National Crisis Committee confirmed the ship's breakage in a statement on Saturday. 'At around 4.30pm [12:30 GMT], a major detachment of the vessel's forward section was observed,' they said.
Pictures show the cargo ship torn in two parts, days after Japanese rescue teams managed to pump the remaining oil off the vehicle to prevent another massive oil spill into the pristine waters.
Earlier this week Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth confirmed that all the fuel had been pumped from the reservoirs of the Japanese-owned MV Wakashio and added that about 100 tonnes remained elsewhere on board the vessel.
The Mauritian government has been criticised for doing too little in the week after the ship crashed into the reef. According to SBSNews, the owner of the ship - the Japanese Nagashiki shipping company - took three weeks to attend the scene.
In response to the company's delayed arrival, Greenpeace wrote: 'Many unanswered questions remain. Why was your vessel sailing so dangerously close to the reef? Why have you done so little since the ship ran aground? What will you do to reduce the damage to the environment, and the pain and suffering of those whose livelihoods depend on it?'
The government made a statement saying that they were seeking compensation from the ship's owner for clean-up costs, losses and damages, and for anyone whose livelihood was affected by the spill.
It stressed, however, the Mauritian government will not be accepting responsibility.
The ship's owner pledged to respond to requests for compensation over damage to the marine life around Mauritius.
It comes after more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel leaked into the waters from the MV Wakashio after it hit a coral reef off the island on July 25 with 4,000 tonnes of fuel.
The ship, which has already leaked some 1,180 tonnes of fuel into the sea, began leaking oil into coral reefs, mangrove forests and protected wetlands last week in a massive blow for the paradisiacal island popular among honeymooners and other tourists.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
