Oil from Japanese ship that ran aground off Mauritius could kill mangrove forests

More than 1,000 tonnes of oil leaked from the bulk carrier MV Wakashio into the pristine Indian Ocean waters off the tourist island of Mauritius

Japan dispatched a disaster relief team to the country, which found that coral reefs were damaged but oil could suffocate and kill mangroves

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A part of the Japanese-owned bulk carrier MV Wakashio which ran aground off Mauritius. Oil which leaked from the ship can potentially kill the mangrove forests on the island. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 26 Aug 2020Updated: 8:00am, 26 Aug 2020

A Japanese disaster relief team said on Tuesday the oil spilled from a grounded Japanese freighter off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean could kill mangroves if it is not cleaned up soon.

The team composed of seven members, including five environment experts, has been conducting an on-site probe of the damage to the environment, especially the mangrove forests and coral reefs, since Friday, while providing on-site environment assistance to the Mauritius government.

“In the heavily polluted areas, oil adhesion to pneumatophores (or aerial roots) can suffocate mangroves to death. Also, if the oil stays for long, its toxic substances can kill mangroves,” Noriaki Sakaguchi, vice team leader and an ecosystem conservation expert at Japan International Cooperation Agency, said in an online briefing.

A Japan International Cooperation Agency experts finds oil drifting in swamps where mangroves are found in Mauritius. Photo: AFP

While no dead or dying mangroves have been found so far, the team said oil coating on the pneumatophores of mangroves has been confirmed in all seven surveyed locations, with a wide area of damage found in two sites.

Clearing oil from mangrove forests in a muddy environment, instead of a rocky one, is particularly difficult as the removal work may allow deeper penetration of the oil beneath the forests, according to the team.

The group will start assessing the impact of oil spill on the Ramsar wetlands near the accident site on Thursday.