Tunisia: the sinking of the Xelo, whose tanks are empty, multiplies the gray areas

The wreck of the tanker Xelo in the Gulf of Gabès, in southeastern Tunisia, on April 17, 2022. AFP - -

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On Friday (April 22nd), Tunisian authorities said they did not find any diesel fuel during the pumping operation of the Xelo ship which sank off the Gulf of Gabes in southern Tunisia on Saturday (April 16th).

It was supposed to carry 750 tonnes of diesel according to statements by the crew and the authorities feared an oil spill in the event of a leak.

It is now a risk avoided but many gray areas persist around this shipwreck.

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With our correspondent in Tunis

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Empty tanks, after

of the Tunisian navy and Italian assistance to avoid any risk of an oil spill.

The information was announced by the authorities on Friday, who gave no further details, reassured to have avoided an environmental catastrophe but also surprised by this disappointment, whereas a week earlier, the Ministry of the Environment already detailed the diesel pumping operations and a priority given to the environmental emergency.

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This announcement adds to several gray areas surrounding the circumstances of the Xelo sinking.

The judicial inquiry revealed that the crew, survivors during the sinking had not provided the bill of lading, a precious document, which lists the goods transported.

Then in the middle of the week, the Egyptian authorities denied that the ship would have left the port of Damietta as the crew had initially declared, saying that it had taken the road to Malta.

The contradictory declarations of the members of the crew pushed the justice to place them in detention, suspected of criminal associations.

The Tunisian authorities are in the process of compiling a file to claim compensation.

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• Tunisia