The Mauritius government has declared an environmental emergency after an oil spill from a grounded ship gathered pace. France said it was sending help from its nearby Reunion Island. Satellite images showed a dark slick spreading in the turquoise waters near wetlands that the government called “very sensitive.”
Wildlife workers and volunteers ferried dozens of baby tortoises and rare plants from an island near the spill, Ile aux Aigrettes, to the mainland as fears grew that worsening weather on Sunday could tear the Japanese-owned ship apart along its cracked hull, reports said.
A French statement from Reunion on Saturday said a military transport aircraft was carrying pollution control equipment to Mauritius and a navy vessel with additional material would set sail for the island nation.
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth says the spill “represents a danger” for the country of 1.3 million people that relies heavily on tourism and has been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has restricted travel worldwide.
https://twitter.com/Environment_MU/status/1291753880007651331
