INTERVIEW
Faced with the oil spill which has polluted its waters and its coasts since the end of July, Mauritius began on Sunday to receive reinforcements from France. The day before, Emmanuel Macron had indicated that France would deploy equipment and teams to fight against this tide of hydrocarbons escaping from a stranded bulk carrier. Pravind Jugnauth, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, declared an "environmental state of emergency" on Sunday, calling a crisis meeting of the authorities concerned, and thanked France for its help. Aid deployed quickly, France having military bases on the neighboring island of Reunion.
Floating booms, scrubbers and pumps
"France has transported 1,300 meters of floating booms, four purifiers which allow the pumping of contaminated water, and two pumps which allow to participate in the evacuation of the fuel still in the boat", detailed Bruno Sciascia, Sunday, at the microphone Europe 1. Commander of the southern Indian Ocean maritime zone, the latter explained that the pumping operations were among the most difficult. "It depends a lot on the weather conditions," he says. Indeed, "the boat, today, is no longer very stable, and it is difficult for the tanks to come and dock there".
Also, Bruno Sciascia fears that the pumping of polluted water will take several days. "Mauritians do not yet have a precise idea of the volume of hydrocarbons left from the hull," adds the guest from Europe 1, estimating this volume at several hundred tonnes.
>> Find all the newspapers of the editorial staff of Europe 1 in replay and podcast here
Soon a Japanese team alongside France
On Saturday, a French navy vessel, the Champlain, departed for Mauritius, while an Air Force plane was scheduled to make two rotations over the spill site, both equipped with specialized pollution control equipment and having experts on board.
For its part, Japan has announced the dispatch of a team of six experts to work alongside French and local aid. A Mitsui spokesperson told AFP in Tokyo that their efforts to attempt to evacuate the cargo by helicopter had been met with bad weather, which also prevented the installation of a floating restraint system around. of the ship.
The Mauritian police plan to board the Wakashio on Sunday with the captain of the ship - a 58-year-old Indian - in order to seize all the documents relating to its navigation and in particular the recordings of communications. The twenty crew members of the bulk carrier had been safely evacuated after its accident on July 25.