- An overhead satellite image taken on Wednesday 19 August at 7.39 am shows Wakashio wreck being towed out to sea in the direction of Antarctica.
- Based on the satellite imagery, it is clear that the wreck could clearly be seen 16 kilometers Southeast of Pointe D’Esny, Mauritius.
- This was the first time that the vessel had been off the reefs since it had been beached on 25 July 2020.
A recent news report published in Forbes written by Nishan Degnarain based on the satellite imagery reveals that Wakashio is being towed toward Antartica as mystery of Mauritius ship deepens.
Vessel heads in a South Easterly direction
Earlier satellite tracking using Synthetic Aperture Radar from Iceye and analysis from Ursa Space Systems had revealed the vessel had been heading in a South Easterly direction an hour earlier at 6.27am.
The largest category of ships
The co-ordinates of the Wakashio by 7.39am was at Lat: -20.499, Long: 57.863, which show it in a direction heading toward Antarctica.
The Wakashio was in the largest category of ships in the world, a Capesize, with a hull the length just short of a Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier at over 300m.
Two support vessels
The images from just after 7.30am on Wednesday 19 August, show the two support vessels making a wide circle around the forward section of the Wakashio.
The cargo bays of the Wakashio which is used to carry heavy iron ore, can be seen to be fully open, as the vessel is towed toward the Southern Ocean.
Shipowner silent on the incident
To date, there has been no comment from the shipowner, Nagashiki Shipping.
Specialist and advising local officials
Various stake holders have their representatives onboard to handle this serious scenario. They are
- The Government of Mauritius,
- the Government of France present on the scene through the French Overseas Minister, Sebastien Lecornuu,
- the Government of Japan who have six experts present or the international regulator,
- the International Maritime Organization who have a specialist present
- and advising local officials.
Question on decision to take Wakashio out
There has been questions around asking why such a need for secrecy.
Whose decision was it to take the Wakashio out to sea? To what destination? Was that a unanimous decision? Why was a statement not issued?
The world has called for transparency amid a coronavirus pandemic, but it appears that global shipping continues to hide its dirty secrets in the deep ocean.
The Wakashio: A symbol of Broken Trust
The lack of transparency has eroded trust between a people forced to cut their hair to build homemade oil protection booms.
Powerful corporate interests who had driven the vessel uninterrupted for four days and appear to be less than transparent with an agreed upon plan for disposal.
Out of sight and out of touch
Questions are also raised about the role of the international regulator, the International Maritime Organization.
These questions arises as IMO supports the decision to possibly sink a vessel at sea without issuing any public statement on its website.
It also raises even more questions about the role of France and Japan, with French French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu, present in Mauritius to offer international advice.
The Wakashioa may have left Mauritius’ shores, but the list questions keep getting longer.
Strong condemnation by Greenpeace
In a statement on its website on 19 August, Greenpeace Africa issued a very strong condemnation of any decision to dump the Wakashio at sea.
Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, said, “Out of all available options, the Mauritian government is choosing the worst one. Sinking this vessel would risk biodiversity and contaminate the ocean with large quantities of heavy metal toxins, threatening other areas as well, notably the French island of La Réunion. Mauritians had nothing to gain from the MV Wakashio crossing their waters and are now asked to pay the price of this disaster. More pollution further risks their tourist-based economy and fish-based food security.”
Narrative of a ‘rogue employee’
58-year-old Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, was charged with endangering safe navigation, Mauritian Police said. He has not yet commented.
The previous day on Tuesday 18 August, the captain of the Wakashio had been arrested in Mauritius for allegedly having being at a birthday event and dereliction of duty.
The greatest ecological disaster
In what has created the greatest ecological disaster in the Indian Ocean, with the international regulator not knowing the effects of this VLSFO fuel in tropical waters of a coral lagoon and the lack of transparency around what truly happened to the single-hulled Wakashio, means that the eyes of the international media is likely to follow this story for a lot longer to come.
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Source: Forbes
