Wachirawit Jenlohakit via Getty Images Oil tanker carrying 750 tons of diesel sinks off the coast of Tunisia (Illustrative photo: an unidentified tanker at sea by Wachirawit Jenlohakit via Getty Images)
ENVIRONMENT – An oil tanker carrying 750 tons of diesel leaving Egypt for Malta sank in the Gulf of Gabes off the southeast coast of Tunisia this Saturday, April 16, a shipper told AFP news agency, stressing that there was “no Leak” at the moment.
The ship sank in Tunisian territorial waters this morning. At the moment there is no leak,” said spokesman Mohamed Karray, adding that “a civil protection commission will meet to decide on the measures to be taken”.
The Equatorial Guinea-flagged medium tanker Xelo (registered IMO 7618272) was sailing from the port of Damietta in Egypt towards the island of Malta.
The hospitalized crew are safe
In order to seek shelter in view of the bad weather conditions, the ship had asked to enter Tunisian territorial waters on Friday evening. About 7 km off the coast of the Gulf of Gabes (south-east), the tanker began to take in water, which seeped into the engine room and rose to a height of almost two meters, according to a press release from the Tunisian Ministry of the Environment.
Tunisian authorities then evacuated the crew of seven on board the distressed ship, the ministry added. According to the court spokesman, the crew members, consisting of a Georgian captain, four Turks and two Azerbaijanis, were briefly taken to the hospital for checks and accommodated in a hotel.
The ministries of defence, interior, transport and customs are working to “avoid a marine environmental disaster in the region and limit its impact,” the environment ministry said.
The Gabes region is traditionally an important fishing area, but has suffered from pollution episodes in recent years, according to several NGOs. These are due to the phosphate processing industry installed there and the presence of an oil pipeline that transports oil from southern Tunisia.
The last marine casualty involving Tunisia dates back to October 2018 when a Tunisian ro-ro vessel L’Ulysse collided with a Cypriot container vessel CLS Virginia 28 km off Cap Corse, France.
At that time, 600 tons of fuel had leaked from the Cypriot container ship, requiring the intervention of French and Italian ships and the European Maritime Agency to limit sea pollution.
See also on The HuffPost: The 3 truly climate-friendly settings according to the IPCC