Japan’s Nagashiki Shipping, owner of the vessel that spilled over 1,000 tonnes of oil in August says that the clean-up will likely end in January.
The massive oil spill came from the Panamanian-flagged MV Wakashio chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, and the ship’s owner said in a statement that all of the oil that had been floating in the ocean had been recovered.
It also said that work to remove the oil along approximately 30 km of coastline was proceeding smoothly and would likely be completed by January,
The vessel ran aground on a reef in Mauritius coastal waters on July 25 and began leaking oil on August 6.
The spilt oil had spread over a vast area of endangered corals, affecting fish and other marine life in what some scientists have called the Indian Ocean Island’s worst ecological disaster.
That in turn threatened to derail the Mauritian economy which is heavily reliant on tourism.
Nagashiki Shipping also said the planned removal of the rear portion of the vessel would begin in late December and last several months. The front part was scuttled in August as instructed by local authorities.
