(ANSA) TUNIS, APRIL 17 Divers have started inspecting the hull of the oil tanker “Xelo,” which sank off Gabes in Tunisia yesterday with its cargo of 750 tons of diesel. Tunisian Transport Minister Rabii Majidi said at a press conference that there had been no fuel leaks at the moment.
The minister, who was at the scene today with Environment Ministry owner Leila Chikhaoui, added that divers are working to hook the boat to the tugs that will bring it back to the surface. “This operation is as delicate as it is complicated, it requires great skill,” the minister said. It’s a real race against time to avert an environmental disaster, also because, as WWF recalls, the site of the shipwreck is a “fishing ground for 600 fishermen” and the Gulf of Gabes “is home to about 34,000 of them”. For decades they have been under attack from chemical pollutants “due to the industries that process phosphates. The navy is currently overseeing interventions to prevent sea pollution off the Gabes coast, the Tunis defense ministry said, adding that “friendly” countries have offered help to prevent fuel spills and avert an environmental disaster.
Italy has provided two ships, aircraft and naval vehicles, and an underwater drone to help local authorities monitor and monitor leaks into the sea: the patrol boats Vega and Orione. (HAND).
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