No leak detected… Divers who inspected the hull of the oil tanker, wrecked the day before off the southeastern coast of Tunisia, on Sunday, found no leaking of its cargo of 750 tonnes of diesel, the Tunisian authorities said.

Divers who were able to get to the site thanks to an improvement in the weather noted that the ship "sinked almost 20 meters deep, in a horizontal position and does not show any cracks", according to the Tunisian Ministry of Health. 'Environment.

The team of divers was "accompanied by the captain and the mechanic of the ship, who know the configuration of the ship", specified to AFP, Mohamed Karray, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office of Gabès, which opened an investigation into the causes of the accident.

In an area inaccessible to the press

The oil tanker Xelo, which left the port of Damietta in Egypt and was heading for Malta, sank on Saturday in Tunisian waters where it had taken refuge the previous evening due to bad weather conditions.

The 58 meter long by 9 wide ship began to take on water in the engine room.

The authorities then proceeded to evacuate the seven crew members, before the sinking of the Xelo at dawn.

On a video from the Ministry of the Environment on Sunday, we only see the tip of a mast emerging from the waves.

The zone, controlled by the army, is inaccessible to the press.

The priority: pumping diesel

According to the Minister of Transport, Rabie el Majidi, during the rescue, the rescuers "made sure to close the holds to avoid diesel leaks and the divers found that they were intact".

"The situation is not dangerous, the diagnosis is positive, the ship is stable because it fortunately sank on sand", affirmed the minister during a press point Sunday in the port of Gabès, with his colleague from the environment.

The priority of the authorities is pumping diesel to avoid pollution of the site.

According to the Minister of the Environment, Leila Chikhaoui, “it is dangerous but possible”.

It is "very difficult for divers to identify the exits (holds) to carry out the pumping", added Rabie el Majidi, while minimizing the extent of the risks: "750 tonnes of diesel is nothing at all" and “diesel evaporates easily in the sun”.

Floating anti-pollution booms were installed on a perimeter of 200 meters around the wreckage.

The authorities are "studying the offers received to help them" for pumping, also from abroad, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Italy, nearby, could, according to the media, provide a ship specializing in maritime accidents.

The course of the ship questions

Tunisian officials are also interested in the course of the ship, built in 1977 and flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea, and its owners: a Turk and a Libyan, according to the Gabes prosecutor's office.

The "+ bill of lading +, an important document (on the ship's trajectory and cargo, editor's note) was left on the ship by the crew," said Minister Leila Chikhaoui.

The Ministry of Transport seeks to "verify the exact nature of the vessel's activity and its route over the past few weeks".

According to him, the Xelo was stationed from April 4 to 8 in the Tunisian port of Sfax, north of Gabes, “to change crew, refuel and make light repairs, without loading or unloading”.

Local media have recalled the proximity of the Gulf of Gabès to Libya, a major oil-producing country, whose coasts have been the scene of hydrocarbon trafficking in recent years.

Pending the pumping of the cargo, conservation organization WWF has warned of "a new environmental catastrophe" in an area which is a fishing ground for "about 34,000 sailors" and has suffered episodes of pollution, in particular due to the phosphate industries and the presence of an oil pipeline, in recent decades.

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