TOKYO (Reuters) – Nagashiki Shipping of Japan said on Friday that the grounding of one of its large bulk carriers that caused an ecological disaster in Mauritius was due to a lack of safety awareness and failure to comply with rules, as it promised better preparedness and surveillance.
The findings were assumptions based on interviews with crew members, the company said.
A bulk carrier owned by Nagashiki and leased by Mitsui OSK crashed on a reef in Mauritius in July and began an oil spill, causing an ecological disaster in the clean seas around the Indian Ocean island. Four people died when a tug sank while trying to recover oil in the ocean.
The MV Wakashio crew, a nearly 300-meter bulker used to transport iron ore, changed course to sail close enough to Mauritius to benefit from mobile phone coverage, after changing the course set two days later. early, Nagashiki said in a statement.
“There has been a lack of awareness of the dangers of sailing close to the coast … and insufficient implementation of regulations that must be followed to safely travel,” the company said, based on its interviews.
The company will ban the private use of mobile phones during bridge work hours and will install high-speed communications systems on all of its ships, as well as advanced training, he said.
The company has also started installing monitoring cameras on the decks of some of its ships for testing and will consider this on all.
Wakashio crashed on July 25 and began leaking oil on August 6, eventually spilling 1,000 tons of fuel oil into the ocean.
The cleanup, which includes returning 30 km (18.6 miles) of mangrove coastline to its former state, will likely be completed in January, Nagashiki said last month.
(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Mark Potter)