Recovery of MOL, "the ship of oil almost recovered" sea does not stand prospect ends

August 13, 22 hours 34 minutes not stand the prospect of recovery ends of MOL, "the ship of oil almost recovered" sea

MOL announced that it had recovered almost all of the oil that was left in the vessel after a cargo ship operated by MOL ran aground off the coast of Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Situation in which the outflow is further expansion was inevitable, but the prospect that the recovery of the oil that remains on the sea ends has followed the situation that does not stand.

When a cargo ship operated by Mitsui OSK Lines stranded on the coast of Mauritius on the 26th of last month, a specialist company was working to drain the oil to prevent the oil remaining in the ship from spilling.

MOL announced on the 13th that it was possible to recover almost all of the oil in the ship.

This prevented further expansion of the oil spill.

On the other hand, of the approximately 1,000 tons of heavy oil spilled into the sea, only half of the oil has been recovered so far.

Regarding future recovery work, the weather conditions such as the height of the waves on the site are unstable, making it “difficult to give an outlook”, and commented that “we will work to resolve the situation at an early stage”.

In addition, Changfeng Kisen, which owns the ship, said, "I am keenly aware of the responsibility as a party, and I am willing to deal with the damages in good faith in accordance with the applicable law. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and we are sorry."

Liability for oil spill

Liability and amount in case of oil spill from a ship are determined by international treaties.

This time, "WAKASHIO", a large bulk carrier that was aground off the coast of Mauritius, was owned by Nagareki Steamship in Okayama Prefecture and chartered by MOL, a major shipping company.

According to the Convention on Marine Accidents, if oil is spilled due to an accident, the owner of the ship will be liable for the liability and insurance will be used to pay the liability.

The treaty sets an upper limit on the amount of compensation according to the "tonnes" that indicate the volume of a ship.

According to the Japan P&I CLUB, a mutual insurance association created by ship owners, in the case of this accident, the maximum compensation amount is expected to be JPY 1.9 billion in Japanese yen.

However, due to concerns about damage to tourism, which is the major industry of Mauritius, and impact on the environment such as coral reefs and water birds, MOL, which was operating the vessel, will take future measures. Will be asked.