{"id":8106,"date":"2021-12-27T19:07:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T19:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill"},"modified":"2021-12-27T19:14:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T19:14:07","slug":"ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill","title":{"rendered":"Ship captain gets 20 months in jail over Mauritius oil spill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>The captain and first mate of a freighter that crashed into a coral reef off Mauritius, unleashing the Indian Ocean archipelago\u2019s worst environmental disaster, were sentenced on Monday to 20 months\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court took into consideration the fact that both defendants pleaded guilty and apologised. The sentence handed down is 20 months in prison,\u201d said magistrate Ida Dookhy Rambarrun.<\/p>\n

The MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned but Panamanian-flagged vessel, ran aground in July 2020, spilling more than 1,000 tonnes of toxic fuel into pristine waters, coating mangroves, corals and other fragile ecosystems.<\/p>\n

The vessel\u2019s captain, Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, who was convicted by a court in the capital Port Louis last week, admitted drinking during an onboard birthday party.<\/p>\n

He and first officer, Hitihanillage Subhoda Janendra Tilakaratna, were found guilty of \u201cendangering safe navigation. \u201d
\n\u201cThe captain and his second in command were irresponsible and did not deliver as they should on their \u2018navigational duties\u2019,\u201d the magistrate said on Monday.<\/p>\n

The MV Wakashio was sailing from Singapore to Brazil with 3,800 tonnes of fuel oil and 200 tonnes of diesel onboard when it ran into the reef off the southeast coast of Mauritius.<\/p>\n

During the trial, the captain said he had given instructions to approach Mauritian waters in order to gain access to a mobile phone network so that crew members could contact their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sea was bad, but the visibility was clear and it was safe to navigate\u2026 At one point, the ship could not move and had touched the sea floor,\u201d Nandeshwar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I had had a few drinks, it did not seem worthwhile to intervene and it did not occur to me that we were sailing that close.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ecologically critical \u2013
\nMore than 1,000 tonnes of oil seeped into waters full of marine life from a gash in the vessel\u2019s hull before salvage crews were able to remove all the remaining fuel.<\/p>\n

The accident occurred near two ecologically critical sites: Blue Bay, known for its coral gardens, and Pointe D\u2019Esny, which hosts a mangrove forest \u2014 a crucial ecosystem as well as a weapon in the fight against global warming.<\/p>\n

In the days after the accident, thousands of volunteers marshalled along the coast wearing rubber boots and gloves, scrubbing rocks and stringing together makeshift cordons to contain the oily tide.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people also took to the streets in the following months to protest at the government\u2019s reaction to the disaster. The ship eventually split in two. Its bow and hull were towed 15 kilometres (nine miles) offshore and sunk.<\/p>\n

The process to dismantle the stern section and remove it from the reef began earlier this year but has been postponed many times due to rough weather and strong waves.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. The captain and first mate of a freighter that crashed into a coral reef off Mauritius, unleashing the Indian Ocean archipelago\u2019s worst environmental disaster, were sentenced on Monday to 20 months\u2019 jail. \u201cThe court took into consideration the fact that both defendants pleaded guilty and apologised. The sentence handed down is 20 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,8,16],"tags":[233,245,241],"class_list":["post-8106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius"],"yoast_head":"\nShip captain gets 20 months in jail over Mauritius oil spill - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The captain and first mate of a freighter that crashed into a coral reef off Mauritius, unleashing the Indian Ocean arch ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ship captain gets 20 months in jail over Mauritius oil spill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The captain and first mate of a freighter that crashed into a coral reef off Mauritius, unleashing the Indian Ocean arch ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-27T19:07:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-27T19:14:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/12\/img-61ca102dab0ce.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ship captain gets 20 months in jail over Mauritius oil spill\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-27T19:07:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-27T19:14:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\"},\"wordCount\":469,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/12\/img-61ca102dab0ce.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/ship-captain-gets-20-months-in-jail-over-mauritius-oil-spill\",\"name\":\"Ship captain gets 20 months in jail over Mauritius oil spill - 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