Watch... a fuel ship sank off Tunisia... and fears of marine pollution
On Saturday, a commercial cargo ship carrying 750 tons of fuel sank in an accident caused by bad weather off the southern coast of Tunisia, and its seven-person crew was evacuated, while authorities confirmed that they could avoid widespread pollution.
The Minister of Environment, Leila Chikhaoui, went to the governorate of Gabes in the southeast of the country to inspect the site of the accident, and confirmed in a statement to state television that "the situation is under control."
The Ministry of Environment said earlier Saturday in a statement that the merchant ship "Kiselo" was flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea and bearing the number "IMO 7618272".
And it transports "about 750 tons of Qazoal (diesel)".
In statements to Agence France-Presse, the minister also explained that the gasoil (diesel) that the ship is carrying "is less dangerous and evaporates quickly" and that "there are no leaks until this moment."
In turn, the spokesman for the Gabes court, Mohamed El-Karray, told AFP that there are "small fuel leaks that cannot be seen with the naked eye... This type of fuel is fast evaporating," ruling out an "environmental catastrophe" in the Gulf of Gabes, where the ship sank inside Tunisian waters. .
The minister considered that "the available means are sufficient to cordon off the accident... and to request international assistance is possible" if necessary.
In parallel, the Ministry of Environment announced taking measures to put up barriers to limit the spread of fuel and cordon off the sinking place of the ship, in addition to sending divers to inspect the ship's condition and the location of the leak to take the necessary measures to prevent an environmental disaster.
The disaster committee will meet in the Gabes governorate headquarters in the coming hours to take decisions on how to deal with any pollution that may result from the accident.
An environmental disaster threatens #Tunisia with the sinking of a commercial ship loaded with 750 tons of fuel# The event pic.twitter.com/7xcjE13WvS
— Al Hadath (@AlHadath) April 16, 2022
The ministry has activated the "National Urgent Intervention Plan" and fuel suction operations will start if large quantities are leaked, according to the minister, pending the improvement of the weather conditions at the beginning of tomorrow morning.
The ship was coming from the Egyptian port of Damietta and heading to Malta.
But difficulties prevented it from continuing its course due to bad weather and turbulence in the sea, and on Friday evening, it asked the Tunisian authorities to enable it to enter the country's territorial waters.
And the port authorities allowed it to anchor about seven kilometers from the coast of the Gulf of Gabes.
However, sea water seeped into the engine room, submerging it to a height of two metres.
The Tunisian authorities evacuated the crew of seven people from the ship, who issued a distress call to the Tunisian authorities on Friday evening, as the weather conditions deteriorated, according to the ministry.
The official spokesman indicated that the crew consisted of a Georgian captain, four Turks and two people from Azerbaijan. They were taken to the hospital and then accommodated in a hotel while they are "in normal condition."
Their testimonies were also heard to "understand the reasons" that led to the accident.
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