10-12-20:
In quest'anno dovremmo essere riusciti ad abbattere un bel pò d'inquinamento perché, come dico sempre, dove non poté Greta poté Corona.
Ma disastri di ogni sorta non sono mancati, alcuni dei quali naturali (o quanto meno, non innescati direttamente dall'uomo), come le recenti alluvioni in: Calabria, Sardegna ed Emilia. Bella roba, per un tardo autunno, eh?
Ma i fenomeni estremi sono sempre più da aspettarsi: al TGR Leonardo l'altro giorno, dicevano che la temperatura di novembre è stata la più alta mai registrata come media globale. E che negli ultimi 50 anni è come se una lampadina da 7W sia stata accesa perennemente in una stanza, aumentando di qualche grado centigrado la temperatura media. Insomma, brutta roba a sentirsi. E negli ultimi 10-20 anni le cose sono andate peggio. E persino nei posti meno vulnerabili si sono verificati disastri di cui si sarebbe sentita molto volentieri la mancanza.
MV Wakashio oil spill
Location Offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius
Coordinates 20°26′17.23″S 57°44′40.67″ECoordinates: 20°26′17.23″S 57°44′40.67″E
Date 25 July 2020
Cause Grounding of MV Wakashio
Operator Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Spill characteristics
Volume1,000 metric tons
Area27 km2 (10 sq mi)
The MV Wakashio oil spill occurred offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius, after the Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July 2020 at around 16:00 UTC.[1] The ship began to leak fuel oil in the following weeks, and broke apart in mid August. Although much of the oil on board Wakashio was pumped out before she broke in half, an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the ocean in what was called by some scientists the worst environmental disaster ever in Mauritius. Two weeks after the incident, the Mauritian government declared the incident a national emergency[2]
Background
MV Wakashio, a large capesize bulk carrier, was built by the Universal Shipbuilding Corporation of Tsu, Japan.[3] She was laid down on 23 September 2004, launched on 9 March 2007, and was delivered on 30 May 2007.[3] She had a deadweight tonnage of 203,000 tons, a length overall of 299.95 metres (984 ft 1 in), and a beam of 50 metres (164 ft 1 in).[3][4] She was powered by a single diesel engine that gave her a service speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h).[3] The ship belonged to Okiyo Maritime Corp., an associate company of Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd.,[5] and was operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.[6] At the time of her grounding, Wakashio was flying under a Panamanian flag of convenience, despite her Japanese ownership.[4] The ship was sailing without cargo,[7] and departed from Lianyungang, China on 4 July, stopped in Singapore, and was scheduled to reach Tubarão, Brazil on 13 August.[8] A crew of 20 was on board,[6] none of whom were injured.[5]
Japan's ClassNK inspection body said in a statement on 11 August that the ship had passed an annual inspection in March. Mitsui OSK said they doubted whether the incident would have a significant effect on their earnings.[9]
Incident
Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July, but did not immediately begin leaking oil.[7] Oil began to leak from the ship on 6 August,[7] by which time Mauritius authorities were trying to control the spill and minimize its effects, isolating environmentally sensitive areas of the coast, while waiting for help from foreign countries to pump out an estimated 3,890 tons of oil remaining on board.[10] By 10 August, about 1,000 metric tons of fuel had spilled, with estimates of the remaining oil onboard ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 metric tons.[7][11] High winds and 5 metres (16 ft) waves halted cleanup efforts on 10 August; visible cracks in the hull of the ship led to worries that the ship might "break in two," according to Mauritius' prime minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.[12] Jugnauth said that 3,000 tons of oil had been pumped out of the ship's fuel reservoirs. Data from Finnish Iceye satellites indicated the spill had increased from 3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi) on 6 August to 27 km2 (10 sq mi) on 11 August.[13]
The ship broke up on 15 August when there were still 166 tons of fuel inside. Waves 4.5 metres (15 ft) high hindered cleanup.[14] After she split, Wakashio's bow section was towed into the open ocean and scuttled on 24 August.[15] Recovery operations continued around the stern section, which remained aground, and on 31 August a tugboat working on the wreck sank after colliding with a barge in heavy weather, killing at least three crewmembers.[16] In October, a salvage contract for the remaining stern section of Wakashio, still grounded on the reef, was awarded to Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering of China, which planned to begin deconstruction in December and continue for at least several months.[17]
According to investigators who conducted interviews with crew members, the crew had been celebrating the birthday of a sailor on board the ship at the time of the grounding, had sailed near shore for a wi-fi signal.[18] However, local police denied reports that the ship had sailed close to land seeking a Wi-Fi signal, saying that looking for a phone signal would not have required sailing so close to land.[19] Plus, the ship's vessel operator, Mitsui OSK Lines, that their fleet had access to free and unlimited internet access[20]. The ship then failed to respond to warnings of the errant course.[18][21] The ship's captain, a 58-year old Indian national named Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, and deputy captain were arrested on 18 August on suspicion of negligence in operating the vessel.[22][23][19]
The grounding happened at an area which is listed under the Ramsar convention on wetlands of international importance and near the marine park of Blue Bay.[4][24] Tourism plays a major role in the economy of Mauritius, accounting for about 63 billion Mauritian rupees (US$1.59 billion) in spending in 2019, and is centered around marine scenery and animals likely to be endangered by the oil spill.[25] Greenpeace stated that "[t]housands of species [...] are at risk of drowning in a sea of pollution, with dire consequences for Mauritius’ economy, food security and health."[25]
Aftermath
Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth declared a "state of environmental emergency" and requested French help on 7 August.[26] "When biodiversity is in peril, there is urgency to act," French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, "France is there. Alongside the people of Mauritius. You can count on our support dear Jugnauth."[27] France sent both military and civilian equipment and personnel from its overseas territory of Réunion.[25]
Local volunteers joined forces to remedy the situation by making cloth barriers stuffed with straw and human hair.[28] Japan sent a six-member crew of specialists to help in the cleanup.[12] On 11 August 2020, Indian Oil Mauritius Ltd (IOML) started to evacuate oil from the breached vessel onto the IOML barge Tresta Star, which had a capacity to hold 1,000 tonnes of oil.[29] India sent 30 tonnes of technical equipment and material to the country to help contain the oil spill as well as a 10-member team of the Indian Coast Guard specialising in containing oil spills.[30]
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the spill "risks bringing devastating consequences for the economy, food security, health and tourism industry."[31] The group also reminded countries about the importance of international legal instruments such as the HNS Convention for liability and compensation.[31]
Spilled oil was collected and loaded onto barges for handling in Port Louis.[32] On 31 August, a fatal accident occurred during a squall when the tug Sir Gaëtan Duval collided with its barge and subsequently sank; three of the eight-person crew were killed and one more was reported missing.[32][33]
By early November, all surface oil had been removed from Mauritius waters, and restoration of the coastline was expected to be completed by early 2021.[17]
Perceived failure of the government to respond promptly and effectively has resulted in protests.[34] In Mauritius, 150,000 protesters assembled in the capital Port Louis, focusing on the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, including calls for the prime minister to step down.[34] The Prime Minister has denied any responsibility.[35] International protests, primarily led by Mauritian diaspora, also occurred in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the UK.[36]
The government has suspended the parliament, and has been accused of suppressing local media and preventing independent reporting regarding the incident, drawing sharp rebuke.[37] Additionally, the government has been criticised for delegating critical decision-making to faceless and unaccountable 'advisors'.[37]
Calls for shipping industry reform
The oil spill has, along with the 2020 Beirut explosion, brought into sharp contrast failures of the shipping industry, with critics highlighting lax attitude to operational safety.[37] Pope Francis called for increased environmental care to address and prevent such disasters in the future.[38] Shipping industry commentators and publications have also called for self-reflection by the stakeholders, including supporting the calls for increased shipping industry financial responsibility when it comes to disaster response and cleanup.[39]
Environmental damage
Oceanographer and environmental engineer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo said, "Around a little bit less than 50 percent of this lagoon is covered by environmentally sensitive areas, be it corals, be it seagrass, be it mangroves, be it entire mudflats, sand beaches and dunes, which is huge. Which confirms the sensitivity of this lagoon, in terms of oil spill." Ecotoxicologist Christopher Goodchild from Oklahoma State University said, "With this oil spill it looks like there is infiltration out of the mangroves, so you have the oily substance that can bind to organic matter or dirt and start to settle in and just being able to remove that toxic sediment can be a real challenge."[40] Flakes of the damaged anti-fouling coating on the hull can also poison the marine fauna and flora on the reef and surroundings in a similar fashion to what occurred on the Great Barrier Reef.[41]
Reuters quoted unnamed scientists as saying that the spill was likely the worst environmental incident in the history of Mauritius, with effects possibly lingering for decades.[14]
From 6 to 11 August, the spill expanded to over 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).[42] The island's environment minister Kavy Ramano, together with the fisheries minister, told the press that it was the first time that the country faced a catastrophe of this magnitude, and that they were insufficiently equipped to handle the problem.[4]
Many dead sea mammals washed up on local beaches in the days following the spill,[38] and more have been found seriously ill.[34] Among the dead animals are dolphins[38][34][43] and melon-headed whales.[34]
Compensation and cleanup funding
Mauritius requested compensation for the spill from Wakashio owner Nagashiki Shipping, which according to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage is responsible for oil damage. The ruling treaty for the circumstances of the incident is the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, which prescribes a maximum payout of 2 billion Japanese yen in the original draft to which Mauritius is a signatory, and 7 billion yen according to a 1996 amendment signed by Japan. Wakashio is insured by the Japanese P&I Club for up to US$1 billion; the agency said it expected to pay at least some portion of the cost of the recovery effort.[44]
On 2 September 2020, Mauritius also asked Japan to pay $34 million in reparations for the disaster; the island nation demanded the money to "support local fishermen whose livelihoods were adversely impacted by an oil leak last month", according to a Mauritian government document.[45]
The ship's operator/charterer, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, pledged ¥1 billion (about US$9.4 million).[46] The Mauritius Natural Environment Recovery Fund will "fund environmental projects and support the local fishing community".[47] The president of MOL cited the payment as their "social responsibility" while apologizing for the damage.[47] MOL also expects that ship owner Nagashiki Shipping will contribute to the Fund.[47]
INSOMMA, una catastrofe incredibile e ignobile. Ricapitoliamo: il dannato cargo giapponese (per fortuna NON una petroliera) si avvicina troppo a Mauritius, pare per cercare un segnale wi-fi (così è stato riportato), e lo Schettino di turno lo manda a schiantarsi contro una delle isole più belle dell'Oceano Indiano. Già deprivata in passato di gran parte della sua fauna, cerca di trovare un faticoso equilibrio tra oltre un milione di abitanti e il turismo.
Era riuscita a scappare anche al COVIDDI (l'unica nazione senza casi attivi all'epoca, dell'intera zona 'africana'), ma poi non ha potuto fare niente contro questo mostro giapponese, più grosso di Godzilla, che ha distrutto la sua pacifica convivenza con il resto del mondo.
E il governo era chiaramente inadatto a gestire una catastrofe del genere. Ma chi ci ha fatto la peggior figura è il GIAPPONE, che proprio in questi periodi sta scappando via dal bando di pesca per le balene, e che ha mandato ben 6 (SEI!) specialisti per 'aiutare'. Io gli rimandavo indietro le teste mozzate degli specialisti, tanto per far capire che ne penso di tale abbondante aiuto! Ma come è possibile? Chi erano questi sei? Goku, Seya, Gundam, Mazinga, Jeeg Robot, Naruto?
Che paese del cazzo che è diventato il Giappone, fosse stata in pericolo una delle bimbette 'Idol' mandavano la flotta al completo.
Macron ci ha fatto indubbiamente una miglior figura. Ma adesso, chi paga per i danni e le vittime?
Per capirne di più, abbiamo però un grande alleato: la rivista FORBES, la famosa 'rivista per ricchi'. Ebbene, da quel che scrivono, sembra che sia più comunista della biblioteca di Bertinotti. Articoli densi di senso, molto efficaci sia nella descrizione sia nei consigli su cosa fare in caso di inquinamento ambientale, sia per le popolazioni che e sopratutto, per i governi. Davvero ben fatto.
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/11/satellite-imagery-captures-dramatic-homemade-efforts-to-slow-mauritius-oil-spill/?sh=1eb782065525
Satellite Imagery Captures The Massive Efforts To Slow Giant Mauritius Oil Spill
Aug 11, 2020,08:14am EDT|19.771 views
Nishan Degnarain
This is a LIVE story and will be updated with the latest satellite imagery as it becomes available.
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is in the midst of grappling with an ecological disaster following the grounding of Japanese freighter MV Wakashio, on the pristine reefs of Mauritius next to one of its most protected atolls. This protected coral atoll, Ile aux Aigrettes, contains species not found anywhere else on the island or in the world.
Already the oil spill has started to surround this atoll, the large fringing reef (one of Mauritius’ best preserved having survived waves of coral bleaching impacting other parts of the Indian Ocean), and is drifting simultaneously toward the historic Port City of Mahebourg, famous for its naval Napoleonic battles, the National Marine Park of Blue Bay and North toward other protected coral atolls.
This is the worst oil spill disaster to face the island. Local Authorities did not have sufficiently long oil booms available in the country to surround the vessel or contain the leaking oil. The vessel was 259m long and 50m wide (a perimeter of 618m).
How Satellites Tracked The Fateful Journey Of The Ship That Led To Mauritius’ Worst Oil Spill Disaster
New Satellite Analysis Shows Mauritius Oil Slick Growing Ten Times In Size Over Past Five Days
15 Rare Species In Danger From The Wakashio Vessel Oil Disaster In Mauritius
MAURITIUS-MAHEBOURG-OIL-SPILL-EMERGENCY
Volunteers make a nylon net to help prevent the spread of an oil spill in Mahebourg, Mauritius, on ... [+] XINHUA NEWS AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
Whilst questions are being asked why oil booms could not have been flown in from other countries as part of an emergency response whilst the vessel spent 13 days on the reef, a massive voluntary effort was mobilized over social media that saw thousands of volunteers come out to stem the flow of the oil, in spite of the health risks to themselves with the heavy smell of oil in the air.
Since the first crack appeared in the hull of the vessel on Thursday 6 August, islanders from across the country met in local towns and supermarket plazas to manually assemble oil protection booms.
Just as many parts of the world had to rapidly learn how to handmake masks in response to Covid-19, islanders in Mauritius were able to review online how other countries had managed oil spills, adapt these to the local conditions where there was an abundance of dry sugar cane leaves, and exchanged social media messages on the best design for a ‘Made in Mauritius’ oil protection boom. These protection booms were sewn together with nylon, items of clothing, and stuffed with dried sugar cane grass and even human hair.
A smaller number of volunteers had also been working with local environmental NGOs to evacuate endangered species to safer parts of the island, until the full extent of the damage on Ile Aux Aigrettes and surrounding areas can be assessed.
When the story is finally told on MV Wakashio, it will be as much about the courage, innovation and solidarity of the thousands of volunteers as it is about the worst oil spill in Mauritius’ history. In times of Covid-19, such hope is important.
These efforts, as well as the dramatic salvage operation, could be seen from space and was captured by satellites overhead. Here are some of the most iconic images since the grounding of the vessel, from a range of different satellites.
28th July 2020: combining AIS with satellite imagery
All vessels longer than 25 meters must transmit an anti-collision beacon, called an Automatic Identification System (AIS) Transponder. This can be tracked by satellite and reveals the vessel’s location and direction of travel. Analysis by Windward was able to track the trajectory and speed of the vessel as it approached the Mauritian coast.
San Francisco-based satellite company, Planet has the largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites, called CubeSats. These satellites were designed and built by the company and show the MV Wakashio on 28 July 2020 initially being toward the edge of Mauritius’ coral barrier reef.
28 July 2020: Initially, the MV Wakashio remained on the edge of the reef (showing in a lighter shade of blue)
One of Iceye's Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites that uses innovative radar technology to image the Earth through clouds and the night sky
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a type of satellite sensor that can see through clouds and the night sky. By reflecting off hard surfaces beneath, it is easily able to identify the presence of vessels, and is often used to detect illegal fishing activity where fishing transponders are switched off.
These images from Finland-based satellite company, Iceye, and with analysis conduced by Ursa Space Systems, show the MV Wakshio on the reef and then the eventual extent of the oil slick.
On 29 July 2020, the hull of the MV Wakashio can easily be seen on the reefs of Mauritius, showing up in bright white, with no other vessels in close proximity. SAR is a critical asset for countries to help govern their national waters, and is used to quickly identify suspicious vessels or vessels not in the positions they should be if they have their transponders switched off.
29 July 2020: Synthetic Aperture Radar clearly shows the light colored hull of the MV Wakashio against the dark colored reef
29 July 2020: Synthetic Aperture Radar clearly shows the position of the light colored hull of the ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
1st August 2020: satellites show vessel beached on reef before starting to leak oil
Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius for 7 days, and 6 days prior to when it started leaking heavy oil. These images were captured using a high resolution satellite by Maxar Technologies MAXR +7.3%.
Saturday 1 August 2020: Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius for 7 days, and 6 days before it started leaking oil.
Saturday 1 August 2020: Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
A wider image of the area by Planet shows the supporting vessel, ‘Stanford Hawk,’ at the edge of the reef.
1 August 2020: by Day 5 of the beaching, AIS tracking shows the MV Wakashio has started to drift inward toward the coast. The Tug Boat, Stanford Hawk, can be seen at the edge of the reef.
5th August 2020: distance of vessel’s drift since beaching
Satellite imagery combined with AIS analysis from 5 August 2020 show that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days since it was grounded on the reefs of Mauritius. This is one day prior to the leak that opened up in its hull.
As a bulk freighter, it had a single hull design, unlike oil tankers that have a double hull for added protection against oil spills following the Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska in 1989.
Analysis from 5 August 2020 shows that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days since it was grounded on the reefs of Mauritius
Analysis from 5 August 2020 shows that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days ... [+] IMAGERY: PLANET, AIS: WINDWARD
6th August 2020: first day of major oil leakage
SAR was also able to identify the extent of the oil spill. Analysis from Ursa Space Systems using Iceye satellites show that on Thursday 6 August 2020, the vessel started to leak heavy oil.
The slick can be seen surrounding the circular Ile aux Aigrettes atoll and heading into the historic Port City of Mahebourg, highlighted in orange in the SAR satellite animation below. Based on calculations by Ursa Space Systems, the spill on 6 August was estimated at 3.3 square
7th August 2020: ship sinking and oozing oil
According to news reports, the ship was carrying 3,894 metric tons of low sulfur fuel oil, 207 metric tons of diesel, and 90 metric tons of lubricant oil. A day after oil began leaking, the extent of the spill can be seen from space, using high definition satellite imagery.
Friday 7th August 2020: the extent of the oil slick around the MV Wakashio becomes clearer a day after oil first started leaking
The extent and spread of the black oil slick within the coral lagoon and around Ile aux Aigrettes can be clearly seen from space.
Friday 7th August 2020: a wider image shows the extent of the damage reaching the environmentally sensitive Ile aux Aigrettes (circular atoll), with operation to remove endangered species.
Friday 7th August 2020: a wider image shows the extent of the damage reaching the environmentally ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
8th August 2020: oil continues to leak from vessel
Using a different high definition satellite (panchromatic, so only displaying in black and white), the resulting oil slick can be seen in black against the grey background of the reef.
Oil salvage efforts at MV Wakashio
Satellites can also capture the vessels involved in the salvage operation as well as the position and effectiveness of the handmade oil booms.
Handmade oil containment booms were set up in multiple locations to try contain the slick.
An assembly point to manually make oil protection booms from dried sugar cane leaves was set up next to the town of Riviere des Creoles along the coast from the Mahebourg waterfront. The magnitude of this effort could be seen from space.
8 August 2020: the assembly of homemade oil protection booms by thousand of volunteers in Mauritius could be seen from space.
Many of these protection booms were deployed along the coastline of the Historic Mahebourg Waterfront to try reduce the coastal impact.
8 August 2020: the deployment of the handmade oil protection booms along the Mahebourg Waterfront could be seen from space
The handmade oil booms around Ile aux Aigrettes, supported by local fishing and tourist boats, are able to capture some of the oil from heading along the coast, and can be seen from space.
The local fishermen wore protective gear when travelling out into the lagoon to deploy the handmade booms.
8 August 2020: handmade booms and voluntary efforts of fishing and tourist vessels can be seen from space
8 August 2020: handmade oil protection booms and voluntary efforts of local fishing and tourist ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
9th August 2020: ongoing efforts with oil protection booms
Oil protection booms had been deployed in several locations to prevent the spill from spreading around the affected area. In these images, the protection booms around Blue Bay Marine Park can be seen on 9 August 2020, as the MV Wakashio continues to leak oil. Blue Bay Marine Park is a marine habitat with a unique coral reef ecosystem that is strictly protected from fishing and other industrial activities.
11th August 2020: crack widens on hull of Wakashio
This high resolution satellite image from Planet on 11 August 2020 at 1.06pm reveals the front of the vessel rising out above the water as the crack along it’s hull widens. The image was taken just a few hours prior to the widely shared videos online of the hull crack widening.
High resolution imagery from 11 August at 1.06pm Mauritius time shows the front of the vessel rising above the water, just prior to a larger gash appearing on the side of the vessel.
Analysis using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites show that the size of the oil slick has now increased to ten times its original size, from 3.3 square kilometers on 6 August 2020 to over 27 square kilometers on 11 August 2020. This has been highlighted in orange by Ursa Space Systems using satellites from Iceye.
Specially designed SAR satellites, supported by special oil detection software, can identify the extent of oil spills using sensors that pick up details the human eye is unable to see unaided, such as sea surface reflections.
SAR analysis reveals the extent of the oil slick on 11 August 2020 and identifies the impacts that may not be seen with the naked eye.
12th August: salvage operations resume
The resumption of salvage operations on Wednesday 12 August morning can be seen clearly by satellite in several theaters of operation: around the vessel, protecting Blue Bay Marine Park, protecting Point D’Esny Mangrove Wetlands, protecting Mahebourg Waterfront. Wider satellite imagery can help guide some of the front line efforts on the ground.
Activities continue around the vessel, which has started to see the front of the vessel rise above the water line as the crack widens on the side of the vessel and the rears sinks closer to the waterline.
There are several forms of satellites. Optical satellites are helpful to identify features that are clearly recognizable. Sometimes, other satellites camera lens could be helpful in identifying features that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Here, multi-spectral analysis reveals traces of the oil slick heading North on the morning of 12 August 2020. The image is from 2 miles North of the wreck, and second image is a closeup of the area. The traces of oil in the water is highlighted in orange, as is the coast.
Evolution of weather conditions
Using satellites and analysis from meteomatics to assess weather patterns, combined with Windward’s AIS analysis, this show the conditions under which the salvage operations took place. Sped up in an animation for illustration purposes, this shows that between the vessel beaching on 25 July 2020 (start of animation) to 12 August 2020 (end of animation loop), the maximum wave height was between 3m and 7m on average each day (a proxy for the weather). Care must be taken interpreting this, as there is likely to be variation within a day that can be shown using other satellite technologies. The date stamp is in the bottom right of the animation, and the support vessels can be seen as blue triangles around the Wakashio.
Analysis of vessel drift
The extent of the vessel drift can be seen from historic satellite analysis of the moment the vessel was grounded on 25 July until the moment oil started leaking on 6 August 2020 (marked marked in black in the satellite image below). The vessel continues to drift further North after the oil leak began on the 6 August, as seen by the satellite imagery taken on 12 August 2020.
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/11/new-satellite-analysis-shows-mauritius-oil-slick-growing-ten-times-in-size-over-past-five-days/
New Satellite Analysis Shows Mauritius Oil Slick Growing Ten Times In Size Over Past Five Days
Aug 11, 2020,11:15pm EDT|25.255 views
Nishan Degnarain
Latest satellite analysis of oil slick on Tuesday 11 August at 3.12pm Mauritian time shows oil slick expanding to 27 square kilometers
The latest satellite data and analysis of the oil spill caused by the stricken Japanese bulk carrier, MV Wakashio off the coast of Mauritius, taken on Tuesday 11 August at 3.12pm Mauritian time, shows that the area directly impacted by the oil slick has expanded to almost ten times its original size since the vessel first started leaking heavy oil into the coastal waters five days ago.
The analysis reveals that the oil slick now stretches over 14 miles in length along the East Coast of Mauritius from Blue Bay Marine Park to the tourist island of Ile aux Cerfs.
Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites from satellite company Iceye, which are specially calibrated to detect oil slicks, the US satellite analysis company, Ursa Space Systems, was able to estimate the size of the Southern portion of the oil slick up to Pointe du Diable as now covering an area of 27 square kilometers.
This is in comparison to the size of the more concentrated oil slick on Thursday 6 August 2020, when it then covered an area estimated at 3.3 square kilometers, centered mainly around Ile aux Aigrettes and the Port of Mahebourg.
On 6 August 2020, when the Wakashio first started leaking, the size of the oil spill was estimated at 3.3 square km, mainly concentrated along the coast of the Historic Port City of Mahebourg.
Other findings from the SAR satellite analysis reveals:
Small amounts of oil film appear to be entering Blue Bay Marine Park
Most of the Bay of Mahebourg has a thin covering of oil film
The oil slick appears to stretch North, with traces of the oil slick seen slightly beyond the tourist island of Ile aux Cerfs and Ile aux Margenie
The supporting salvage operations can also be tracked using SAR satellites.
Using the false coloring of orange to highlight the extent of the reflective oil sheen, synthetic aperture radar is able to show the oil slick going around the oil protective boom and into Blue Bay Marine Park on the left of the image. The Wakashio is circled in white.
Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar shows the oil sheen moving Northward along the coast of Mauritius, and around the large aquaculture farms off the East Coast of Mauritius on 11 August 2020 at 3.12pm local time, five miles North of the Wakashio crash site.
Oil sheen in Mauritius moving North
Strong winds and currents from the South of the island have pushed traces of the oil sheen North past the small tourist islands of Ile aux Cerfs and Ile aux Margenie, 14 miles North of the crash site.
To the naked eye, the ocean may appear clear, but the silky film of the heavy oil impacts the surface tension and other chemical properties of seawater, and this is what is detected by the SAR satellites.
Oil floats on the surface of water and over time usually spreads out to a thin layer. As the oil spreads, this layer becomes thinner and thinner and changes in color from black or brown to a rainbow of colors and finally to a silver of silver-grey, very thin layer called a sheen.
This rainbow-like sheen can be seen from high resolution satellite imagery around the Port City of Mahebourg on 9 August 2020.
Although a thin sheen may look almost transparent, it has long term consequences for the health of marine life.
It can impact the health of fragile coral reef ecosystems, mangroves, sea birds, fish, turtles, dolphins, whales and shellfish in several ways, impacting lungs, immune and reproductive functions and leading to multiple organ failure among marine mammals. This is particularly concerning for Mauritius, which is one of richest biodiversity hotspots in the Indian Ocean with unique fauna and flora not found anywhere else in the world, particularly in the location of the crash site.
According to the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fish eggs and larvae can be especially sensitive to lethal and sublethal impacts, and can make seafood unsafe for humans to eat.
1600 tonnes of heavy oil left on board
Also on Tuesday 11 August, the Wakashio, experienced a widening gash along its side, that has been widely viewed.
A statement by the vessel owner Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd., revealed that as of Tuesday 11 August,
“Approximately 1,020 metric tons of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) onboard had been pumped out and transferred onto small tankers.
Approximately 1,180 metric tons had leaked out from the vessel fuel tank, of which an estimated 1,000 metric tons had leaked outside of the vessel, and 460 metric tons is estimated to have been manually recovered from sea and coast.
About 1,600 metric tons of VLSFO and about 200 metric tons of Diesel Oil remain on the ship, and transfer work will continue.”
This means that of the 3800 metric tons of heavy oil (VLSFO) on board the vessel on 25 July 2020, 720 metric tons has leaked into the ocean and has been unrecoverable so far, and 1600 metric tons remain at risk on board the vessel, 61% of the original amount.
With ongoing cleanup efforts in the lagoon, less oil on board than the initial volume on 6 August when the leaks commenced, and calmer weather, it is hoped that the extent of the oil spill can stabilize in the upcoming days to aid cleanup and rehabilitation efforts.
15 Rare Species In Danger From The Wakashio Vessel Oil Disaster In Mauritius
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/12/15-rare-species-in-danger-from-the-wakashio-oil-disaster-in-mauritius/?sh=19db64bf45d5
Aug 12, 2020,03:14pm EDT|10.754 views
Nishan Degnarain
The Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius is a world renown biodiversity hotspot.
The country was plunged into a major environmental crisis when Panama-flagged, Japanese bulk carrier, the Wakashio ploughed straight into one of Mauritius’ pristine barrier reefs in the South East of the country on 25 July 2020, and started leaking heavy fuel oil last Thursday 6 August.
The vessel crashed into the center of this fragile and protected ecosystem, and there are ongoing efforts to stem the flow of oil from the vessel before it breaks up. The immediate crash site is known for its pristine waters, large coral barrier reefs, marine parks and small island nature reserves.
Islanders have been particularly shocked to see the dark flows of heavy oil surround a particular coral atoll, the small circular island of Ile aux Aigrettes at the center of most imagery of the oil spill. Although several of the rare captive species have been transported to safe locations since oil started leaking on 6 August, there are growing concerns that when the initial cleanup operation is completed, the long-term implications could be devastating for the region’s and the world’s biodiversity, particularly the unique plant and marine life.
This is one of the most prominent nature reserves in the Indian Ocean. It is a 25 hectare island lying 625 meters offshore, and contains some of the rarest species on the planet, not found anywhere else in Mauritius or the world. It had been planned as the launchpad of restored species into a connected Protected Area Network for the country.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, world leaders had been preparing themselves to make bold commitments to safeguard global biodiversity at a series of international summits. The Ile aux Aigrettes story would have been the crown jewel for these summits, standing out as a global conservation success story and a lesson for how biodiversity can be safeguarded. The nature reserve was first protected in 1965, and has been run by local NGO the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation since 1985 as a refuge to stabilize and restore endangered species to an endemic setting.
The coral atoll refuge was thought to be the safest place to protect these species from mankind’s influence. The events of the last few days have shown otherwise.
The Mauritius Wildlife Foundation has 40 conservation programs operating to support various endangered species. Here are 15 of the most iconic species and habitats that have been directly impacted by the oil spill, and which the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and other local environmental groups are fighting to save.
Plants
1. Ebony Forest
According to Mauritius’ National Parks and Conservation Service, Ile aux Aigrettes has the best preserved native vegetation cover amongst all the coralline islands of the Mascarenes and contains the last remaining patch of native ebony-rich forest which was once abundant over much of Mauritius. It is home to one of the largest and best preserved lowland ebony forests remaining in Mauritius.
2. Rare Trees and Shrubs
Mauritius has a rich and diverse flora, with more than 670 species of flowering plants of which 315 are endemic i.e., only found in Mauritius. Around 200 endemic plant species are threatened and some 50 species are known from less than 10 individuals in the wild. Many plant species are restricted to small patches of native forest, such as Ile aux Aigrettes.
The island is a refuge for many other rare and unique trees, shrubs and flowers, such as the Bois d’ébène Tree (Diospyros Egrettarum), the Calvaria Tree (Sideroxylon Boutonianum) that was once thought to be entirely dependent on the Dodo for its survival, the Dragon Tree or Bois Chandelle (Dracaena Concinna), and the shrub Bois de Boeuf (Gastonia Mauritiana). All of these were at the brink of extinction at some stage and have been carefully tended for many years.
Birds
3. Mauritius Pink Pigeon
The Mauritius Pink Pigeon was being bred at Ile aux Aigrettes and had been a global conservation ... [+] MAURITIUS WILDLIFE FOUNDATION
The Mauritius Pink Pigeon had been one of conservation’s great success stories. This large, endemic bird was on the brink of extinction in 1991 with only 10 individuals remaining. Following a successful breeding program on Ile aux Aigrettes, the bird was introduced into a secondary location in Mauritius in the Black River Gorges National Park in the past few years, and all populations are closely monitored by the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation. The Pink Pigeon is the only Mascarene Pigeon that has not gone extinct.
4. Mauritius Fody
This small bird was endemic to Mauritius, but classified as critically endangered after the population fell significantly between 1975 and 1993. 93 fodies were released onto Ile aux Aigrettes between 2003 and 2006, and the population has slowly stabilized to around breeding 100 pairs. Its numbers have since increased and 900 are believed to now exist on the island. The Mauritian Fody is dependent on local exotic forests to protect it from predators, and was slowly being released to other outlying islands that did not contain predators.
5. Mauritius Olive White-eye
The Mauritius Olive White-eye is one of the rarest birds in Mauritius, and only found on Ile aux Aigrettes. The population declined dramatically from 350 pairs in 1975 to only 120 pairs in 2002. A reason for its rarity is that the Mauritius Olive White-eye evolved around the nectar of several endemic flowers from Mauritius. The introduction of other plant species has led to a decline in the required flowers and hence to severely decreasing numbers of the birds. After a successful breeding program their population is estimated to be around 300, but are still registered as critically endangered on the IUCN list.
Reptiles
Of the 18 species of reptile that used to be found in Mauritius, only 13 remain, and 7 of these are exclusively found on the offshore islets such as Ile aux Aigrettes where they escaped extinction from invasive species such as rats.
6. Aldabra Tortoises
Historically, giant tortoises were found on many Western Indian Ocean islands. They are one of the largest tortoises in the world and were once thought to have been driven to extinction by 1840 due to over exploitation by European sailors. A small population survived on Aldabra Coral Atoll in the Seychelles. 20 were being bred on the Ile aux Aigrettes reserve for reintroduction back into the outlying island of Mauritius.
7. Telfair Skinks
The once numerous Telfair Skink – a type of lizard - suffered significant population decline due to loss of its habitat and invasive species brought into Mauritius over the past 200 years such as goats, rats and rabbits. The Telfair Skink is related to two now-extinct species, the Giant Skinks of Mauritius and Reunion Island. The last remaining populations had been found on an outlying island of Mauritius, Round Island to the North, where only 5000 individuals were counted in the 1970s. Following a successful captive breeding program in the UK, the skink population was being slowly introduced to other outlying islands like Ile aux Aigrettes.
8. Bojer Skink
The critically endangered Bojer Skink was once abundant across Mauritius, but suffered 80% loss of population since 2010 due to invasive species. The Bojer skink is the only species in its genus, and diverged from all living species more than 30 million years ago (by comparison, humans diverged from their closest relatives less than 7 million years ago). They were being bred on Ile aux Aigrettes reserves to stabilize the population.
9. Bouton Skink
Bouton Skinks are endangered and are of particular biological interest. They live on coastal rocky habitats, like the famous volcanic rocks of Mauritius, and sometime feed on small fish and small crustaceans found in rock pools from the splash zone. The Bouton Skink is endemic to Mauritius, and were being bred on Ile aux Aigrettes reserve.
10. Ornate Day Gecko
The Mauritius Ornate Day Gecko is one of the smallest day gecko, growing to a length of 12cm. They can be found in trees and bushes in the drier areas of Mauritius. Geckos are small lizards with unique characteristics. They cannot blink, but often lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist.
They typically feed on insects and like to lick soft, sweet fruit, pollen and nectar. Their population is small and unknown on the few outlying islands where they are present, such as Ile aux Aigrettes.
In 2014, five Mauritian Ornate Day Geckos achieved fame when they were sent into space for an experiment to understand the effects of gecko reproduction in microgravity. Although the two month mission was designed to bring the geckos back to Earth, the Russian Space Agency lost communication with the satellite early into its mission and the fate of the Mauritian space geckos remain unknown.
11. Lesser Night Gecko
The night species of geckos have evolved particular vision so that their color vision in low light is 350 times more sensitive than human color vision.
The dark colored, rare and endemic Lesser Night Gecko was being protected on Ile aux Aigrettes to strengthen the species’ population on the outlying islands.
Geckos have several unique properties. Their tails are specially designed to allow them to quickly break off if caught by a predator, but can then grow back again. Geckos’ toes are also specially evolved with special microscopic hairs, called setae, which give geckos their sticky ability.
12. Round Island Day Gecko (known as Günther's Day Gecko)
This unique species of gecko can grow to around 12 inches. It was only found on the outlying islands of Mauritius such as Ile aux Aigrettes and was bred in captivity until 1999. Their population has since increased to just over 2000. Günther's Geckos were being reintroduced slowly into the outlying islands and were being kept in Ile aux Aigrettes. When a gecko falls, it can twist its tail to a right angle to allow it to land on its feet, in a stunt that takes just 100 milliseconds.
Internationally protected areas
13. Mangrove Wetlands
In the 1970s, the alarming loss of coastal wetlands forced Governments around the world to come together to sign an intergovernmental international treaty for their protection, called the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where it was signed in 1971. Mauritius ratified this treaty in 2001 and under this international law, the UN Scientific Agency, UNESCO identifies sites in the country that are of international importance.
The Wakashio’s crash site is home to two UNESCO Ramsar wetlands protection sites. This reflects the biological uniqueness and importance of this region. The first is Pointe d’Esny Wetland characterized by its mangrove forest containing many rare species of mangrove plants. These provide habitats for the rare and protected endemic butterflies of the region.
14. Blue Bay Marine Park
The second UNESCO Ramsar wetlands protection site is Blue Bay Marine Park. It’s coral diversity of 38 coral species across 28 genera and 15 families support over 233 fish species, 201 shell-baring mollusc species, as well as the endangered green turtle, which lays its eggs in the soft sand of the Bay. It is also home to the largest brain coral in the Indian Ocean, estimated to be around 1000 years old and 7 meters wide. Brain corals are so called due to their spherical shape and grooved surface that resembles a brain. They tend to feed at night, where they extend their tentacles to catch food.
15. Green Turtle
The endangered Green Turtle is particularly at risk. There are several turtle breeding habitats on the large, isolated sandy beaches. The turtle, whose nursing grounds are in the Blue Bay Marine Park and along the East Coast of Mauritius use the pristine, sandy beaches to bury their eggs during nesting season. The long term consequences on vulnerable turtle populations – particularly the eggs and hatchlings - by the fine, toxic particles of heavy oil interspersed with the sand, is yet to be fully understood.
Other Ocean Life
In addition to the large expanse of coral reefs that fringe the island and provide a barrier to erosion, the Southeast Coast of Mauritius is known for pods of dolphins, sharks, rays and seasonal migration of whales.
It’s pristine waters comes from across the Indian Ocean as well as currents from Antarctica to the South of the island.
A major new approach to Biodiversity Protection
With such wildlife under threat from climate change, and now large industrial pollution incidents, a major upheaval is required in the way that Biodiversity Conservation is approached.
In addition to smarter designation of connected protected areas, more effective surveillance using newer technologies and greater investment to understand the biological significance of particular habitats and species, advances in medical technologies and synthetic biology could offer hope to species that are on the brink of collapse. Such approaches are being explored to restore rhino populations in Africa.
A lot of these unique species could provide the hope for new materials and medicines, including potential treatments for Covid-19. By investing in the science, technology and workforce of the future to understand the importance and value of this unique biology, it may be possible to put biotech and a bio-economy at the heart of sustainable economic growth and build back better. Indeed that is what several California-based Silicon Valley companies have been exploring as part of the post-Covid rebound.
If done well, this could make biodiversity-rich, economically-poor countries like small island states of Mauritius, the new Silicon Valley for the BioTech economy.
With the world on the brink of a sixth mass extinction and facing the loss of coral reefs around the world under our current climate trajectory, perhaps now is the time to attempt radically new approaches, before we lose these species forever.
The Critical First Five Steps Every Country Should Take When Responding To A Major Oil Spill
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/14/the-critical-first-five-steps-every-country-should-take-when-responding-to-a-major-oil
Aug 14, 2020,11:00pm EDT|903 views
Nishan Degnarain
Major oil spills, like what happened on the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius last Thursday, are unfortunately more common than they should be.
Years of forcing the global shipping industry to increase sustainability and safety standards have not yielded sufficient results, as international shipping continues to lag behind on climate change commitments.
This has placed many smaller nations, without the resources to handle a major oil incident, woefully unprepared to deal with the complexity and magnitude of how to handle major industrial oil spill, as Mauritius found to its cost last week. As an aging and abandoned large crude oil tanker off the coast of Yemen is also at risk of spilling across the entire Red Sea, causing the US Secretary of State to issue an alert, what steps do countries have to take if a major oil spill hits their shores for the first time?
What happens when there is an oil spill and what steps should a country take, particularly if they’ve never experienced such an event.
It all eventually boils down to two questions.
A question of How Much and Who Pays
After all is said and done, oil cleanup operations come down to two questions: who pays, and how much do they pay. Some key early decisions could mean an order of magnitude (ten times) difference in any payout. This is critical to know.
All major shipping companies pay into catastrophic risk insurance. Ultimately, any funds for restoration of habitats will come from this pooled risk insurance that has pockets of billions of dollars. As a comparison, compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which had a robust scientific assessment behind it, was $20 billion, for Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 it was $5 billion (over $10.5 billion in today’s prices). If bilateral settlement terms for what is a reasonable cost of cleanup cannot be reached, this will often go to arbitration. This is a well understood process.
At such arbitration, the quality of the data collected in the early days of the incident will make all the difference in the decision of the magnitude of payout made.
Here are the five critical steps that any country experiencing an oil spill must take in the immediate days following a crisis.
1. Containment
Salvage teams work on containment of oil as well as ensuring the stability of the vessel during the ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
There are two aspects to this: containing the oil spill itself, and salvaging the vessel. This often entails two different sets of experts for each challenge.
Containing the oil spill
A key group of international technical experts in suggesting effective spill response techniques to a maritime incident is ITOPF. They are usually activated by a vessel’s owner and insurer. They may organize a spill response team, such as Oil Spill Response Limited, which are the largest international industry-funded cooperative that exists to respond to oil spills wherever in the world they may occur, by providing preparedness, response and intervention services. They are wholly owned by most of the environmentally responsible oil and gas companies, who employ 275 people across 12 locations around the world. They also respond to spills for non-members, subject to a set of pre-set fees.
They are the teams who advise and lead on the initial operational details of containing the oil spill, including at distances far from the actual accident site itself.
Salvaging the vessel
In cases where vessels have been structurally impacted, the experts are typically the large, global, salvage companies who are appointed by the ship’s owners and insurers.
2. Collect and Freeze Samples immediately at an unprecedented scale
Whilst in many countries there is often the initial shock, confusion and coordination challenges in the immediate aftermath of a spill, the samples collected in the immediate days following a spill (and continually in the following days and weeks), will be the biggest determination of any cleanup compensation payout.
No resource should be spared collecting these samples using the right scientific protocols that would be admissible in any arbitration. The pay off from extensive and well cataloged samples could mean the difference of a payout that is orders of magnitude (ten times) greater, and would justify any investment in the collection team and robust scientific protocols that could be admissible in any arbitration.
Once this window is missed, it may be too late to see the full extent of the damage caused, as lessons from the quality of sampling around the Cosco Busan show.
Biological samples (such as coral, fish, mangrove tissue) can reveal certain bio-markers of where the pollution may have traveled that is invisible to the naked eye or satellite evidence. To obtain these indicators, specimens need to be genetically tested using specialist genomic equipment that is widely available in the US and Europe.
SAR satellite imagery of the spill
Often such equipment is not present in the location of the spill and there is a several week delay for this to arrive (especially given Covid-19). However, this does not mean samples should not be collected daily from specific locations under specific protocols. These samples can be frozen and tested many weeks or months later when the right equipment arrives.
Incidentally, due to Mauritius’ strong response to Covid-19 (there are no local cases), many PCR kits are currently available which may end up being one of the most powerful tools in the oil spill response. That, combined with armies of specially trained volunteers from the tourism and fishing community who know the area, could give a strong advantage for a unified a national response.
The documentation for the ‘chain of custody’ is critical
NOAA chart
What is most important for samples to be admitted in any arbitration settlement is the strict cataloging of the chain of custody and storage of the samples. The importance of this cannot be emphasized enough. Many cases have fallen apart when it was alleged that samples could have been tampered with.
Fortunately, Mauritius has a large and secure tuna industry and aquaculture facilities with refrigeration and security capacity that should address these concerns.
The documentation and protocols can be printed off from existing documentation, such as on Page 23 of NOAA’s guide to Heavy Fuel Oil spills. Often a swift training is required for all collecting officers. Given the large local fishing and tourism sector around the crash location, Mauritius has the opportunity to secure and freeze a much more compelling set of baseline data than many other countries. Especially given how well studied and monitored the wildlife sanctuaries around the crash site were.
3. Develop a unified, national response
When major oil spill or mining accidents occur, there is often anger and confusion. Whilst there is ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
There is often a ‘fog of war’ after a major oil spill, particularly where this happens in a country for the first time. It took two major oil spills (1969 Santa Barbara, California and 1989 Exxon Valdez) for the US to fully have its standard operating protocols and laws in place, so they could better handle the Cosco Busan in San Francisco Bay in 2007.
In most countries, there is often inter-departmental challenges. In the US, following major oil spills, the Port Authorities are often at odds with the Environmental Agencies (EPA and NOAA). However, in the most effective cases, they are put under the umbrella of the US Department of Justice to ensure a coordinated response with sufficient and fast-tracked funds, to ensure the best possible outcome for the citizens of the affected area.
Whilst there may initially be trade-offs between who pays for sample collections, scientific information, and other baseline impact studies, resourcing should be agreed in a unified way. In the United States, there are often well established established Accident Investigation Boards for major events that look into the forensics of the incidents and lessons learned. Such processes into the causes of what happened should be handled separately from preparing a strong and independent Natural Resource Damage Assessment case for compensation from any polluter.
4. A country should engage its own independent experts
These should be separate from those provided by the polluting company, the insurer or any host nation associated with a polluter
This is critical. Given the magnitude in any payout, not all international experts are incentivized to offer objective advice. In many cases, it may be more prudent for the insurer to have a ‘counter-narrative’ to diminish the potential impact (e.g., describing an environment that was already in decline, tourism was impacted by Covid-19 or that multiple factors were to blame, rather than what the insurer is responsible for).
Where a country has its own set of independent experts who have gone through major oil spills before, these countries are always more effectively prepared with a stronger, unified narrative. Given that settlements are often in the hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, there are very high stakes here to have the right, independent experts on the side of the country and citizens who have been impacted.
5. Invest in a world class science team
ARGENTINA-HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINE-LABORATORY
A world class science team will ensure appropriate security and storage of all samples from as wide ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The centerpiece of any claim will come down to the credibility of the science presented. This will be determined by the quality of the samples and data collected (including how strictly scientific protocols were carried out and the extensiveness of the tests), as well as the quality of the experts engaged.
Often, a polluter or host nation would offer to pay for a scientific team. This could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for the host nation. Not all scientists are equal, and each may use different approaches to reduce their assessment of impact.
One example that has been seen in many places is for a scientist to cut fish into slices to visually look for the presence of oil as the main indicator. Whilst this makes for compelling media images, this does not give robust scientific information. When a fish takes in oil, it is akin to a human drinking alcohol. The liver de-toxifies (reduces the toxicity) of the alcohol. The only way to accurately assess the impact of an oil spill is through advanced genetic testing.
There is a specific gene that is sought for in genetic testing and that is the famous CYP1A gene (part of the family of CYP enzymes). This is a critical indicator in response to oil spills. This is a well known ‘bio-marker’ that indicates the fish’ defense mechanisms have been activated against the pollution. If more of this enzyme is made, that may be an indicator that the fish trying to detoxify itself, as admissible evidence of stress due to the oil spill. This is the true measure to understand the impact of an oil spill (not visual inspection of a slice of fish), which reveals that oil spills are often the ‘invisible killer’ to marine life. These bio-markers can easily be detected using PCR tests, that are commonly being used for Covid-19 testing.
Digital screen showing DNA profile match
The output from DNA results will look like a series of lines. Experts will know how to read these ... [+] GETTY
Hence it is important that any country impacted agree swiftly on an international scientific team from an internationally respected university who can work with local scientists to jointly frame the right questions and focus immediately on collecting the right samples. With Exxon Valdez in Alaska, only a certain set of species population needed to be monitored. With more biodiverse areas, experts in animal diseases from corals, mangroves, birds, turtles, insects, dolphins, whales, crustaceans, plants, flowers and trees would need to be engaged to know which indicators to start searching for. Some of the world’s leading scientists who worked on behalf of the communities that secured the $20 billion settlement from BP from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout, are at Stanford University’s Marine Hopkins Laboratory in California. They also happen to have some of the world’s deepest expertise in the Indian Ocean, covering coral reefs, fish and other rare marine life found only in the Indian Ocean.
Dispute resolution
If the funding party (the polluter or their sponsoring nation) does not agree to a highly credible, world class scientific team from a separate country, it is often prudent for the host Government to pay for this scientific expertise themselves and be reimbursed later during any settlement. These costs may be as high as $3 million initially for the full range of scientific logging, right equipment, and expertise that a world class scientific team can oversee and evaluate the samples being collected, working and training local scientists to build capacity long after the international scientists have left.
Bearing in mind that the Cosco Busan’s settlement was $44m for a spill that was in the heavily industrial San Francisco Bay three and a half times smaller than the Wakashio in Mauritius and significantly smaller than the risk from theSafer tanker off the coast of Yemen and the environmentally sensitive Red Sea with some of the last remaining Pristine Corals, the investment in the right internationally renown scientific team early on could immensely strengthen any case during arbitration.
Toxic In The Tropics: The Invisible Killer Now In Mauritian Waters After Major Heavy Oil Spill
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/14/toxic-in-the-tropics-the-invisible-killer-now-in-mauritian-waters
Aug 14, 2020,10:00pm EDT|10.957 views
Nishan Degnarain
I cover innovation within the green/blue industrial revolution.
MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
This aerial view taken on August 8, 2020 shows the Pointe d'Esny mangrove forests, and the Grand ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Update: this article was updated with a fifth factor following observations from the scientists at Stanford University who worked on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and are closely monitoring the situation in Mauritius.
Last week, bulk carrier Wakashio broke up on the pristine coral reefs off the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius, leading to a major oil spill and national emergency in the country.
Whilst the imagery does not show the extensive graphic spills associated with incidents like the Exxon Valdez oil tanker in Alaska in 1989 or the Deepwater Horizon oil well blow-out in the United States in 2010, four factors make the Wakashio spill in Mauritius a particularly lethal cocktail:
Two types of oil spills: Crude Oil Spills and Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil Spills
There are two main types of oil spills:
1. Crude Oil Spills
Crude Oil Spill: April 9, 1989 - crude oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez, top, swirls on the surface ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS
These could come from the rupture during the transportation of oil in an oil tanker, such as the Exxon Valdez oil tanker in Alaska in 1989 or the Prestige oil tanker in Spain in 2002). They could also come from oil well blowouts, such as the Deepwater Horizon blow out in the US Gulf of Mexico for 2010.
Such incidents tend to be very visible with floating patches of oil and contain a high volume of oil that covers an extensive area - the worst oil spill in history at the time was the Exxon Valdez tanker that spilled 37,000 metric tons, ten times the amount in Mauritius, and was initially asked to pay over $5 billion in damages for the 1989 spill (equivalent to $10.5 billion today). Images of Crude Oil Spills are often full of many seabirds and wildlife visibly distressed and drenched in oil. After the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, the laws governing international shipping changed to ban single-hull carriers from transporting oil and ensure all hulls were double-hulled, thereby creating an additional layer of protection in cases of accidents.
As the product is crude oil, this contains many of the lighter compounds that are high value and extracted during the oil refining process like aviation fuel, car fuel, petroleum ethanol, paraffin, and other petrochemicals.
2. Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil Spills (HFO Spills)
Heavy Bunker Fuel Spill: The 738-foot freighter Selendang Ayu, in two sections, takes a battering ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Bunker oil is the term used to refer to the oil used to power a ship’s engine, whether that vessel is a cargo, a bulk carrier or a cruise ship. This fuel is typically low grade, unrefined and the leftover sludge from taking out all the high quality products during petroleum refining process. It is heavily concentrated and thick. This heavy bunker fuel is then mixed with diesel to allow it to float to the surface on water. Bunker fuel is graded A, B or C, with C being the thickest and most viscous, often requiring heating or blending in order to make it flow. Mixed with up to 10 percent of a lighter fuel, such as diesel, it becomes a cheap fuel for use in shipping (30% cheaper than alternatives). It is often referred to by many names (such as Bunker Fuel, Heavy Bunker Fuel, Heavy Fuel Oil or HFO, No6 Grade C Oil).
In the case of the Wakashio in Mauritius, the vessel appears to have been carrying the heaviest type of bunker fuel, No 6 (Grade C) fuel, that requires special handling for cleanup operations, as NOAA’s guidelines for No 6 (Grade C) bunker fuel oil spills indicate.
TOPSHOT-MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
Volunteers collect leaked oil from the MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground at the beach in ... [+] L'EXPRESS MAURICE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Although Heavy Fuel Oil is the most common form of oil used in shipping, there is significant controversy about its use and there have been strong efforts to have it banned both in order to meet Climate Change commitments, as well as the risk to the environment. Spills from Heavy Fuel Oil are more common than Crude Oil spills due to vessel accidents, poor maintenance or vessels cleaning their engines illegally at sea, so do not receive as much media coverage. Although visually, Heavy Fuel Oil Spills are much lower volumes than Crude Oil spills (as vessels are not transporting oil), so spills are a lot less visible on the ocean surface, they can be extremely toxic.
The risk of HFO spills are so toxic that the they are already banned from Antarctica (just South of Mauritius) and the international shipping regulator, the International Maritime Organization based in London, is finalizing plans to have it banned from the Arctic in the next few years due to the fragile nature of the Arctic ecosystem, and high exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun, that makes it even more lethal. There have also been strong campaigns in the Arctic to ensure that vessels using Heavy Fuel Oil are double-hulled rather than single-hulled. The vessel, Wakashio, that crashed in Mauritius was single hulled.
The lethal cocktail of the Wakashio oil spill
There are five factors that make the nature of the Wakashio oil spill in Mauritius particularly lethal, compared with most other Heavy Fuel Oil spills. Let’s go through each in turn.
1. Type of oil involved: Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil (HFO)
As the incident in Mauritius involves the Heavy Bunker Fuel type of oil spill - rather than the Crude Oil type - any Natural Resource Damage Assessment should be informed by past work on large Bunker Fuel Oil Spills, such as the Cosco Busan vessel in San Francisco in 2007 or the Selendang Ayu vessel incident in Alaska in 2004 that also ran aground and split in two. Comparisons with Crude Oil spills are not appropriate, so it is important to have a list of all Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil spills as a comparison on where the Mauritius Wakashio spill ranks.
Harsh Weather Threatens Salvage Operation Of Cracked Freighter
The legacy of the Selendang Ayu is still being felt ten years on in Alaska. In that spill it was estimated that 1250 metric tons (350,000 gallons) were spilled and not recovered. There was a discrepancy between what the investigation found and what environmentalists claimed was spilled. Part of this discrepancy was the isolated location of the crash site in Alaska and difficulty of swiftly completing extensive sampling in time for this evidence to be admissible during the crash investigation. Even despite the lower estimate of how much Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil was lost, the clean up settlement was over $112 million.
Bay Area Reacts To Devastating Oil Spill
The highest profile example of bunker fuel pollution in the US was in 2007 when the Cosco Busan container ship collided with the Bay Bridge in fog in the heart of San Francisco Bay.
In that incident, 191 tons of heavy bunker fuel leaked in the busy San Francisco Bay (54,000 gallons of bunker oil). This is in comparison to the 700 metric tons that has been reported to have been leaked into the pristine waters of Mauritius as of 11 August 2020 - three and a half times that of the Cosco Busan - of the 3800 metric tons that was on board at the time of the crash.
During the investigation of the impact of bunker fuel on wildlife habitats following the Cosco Busan spill, many previously unidentified harmful chemical properties of bunker fuel (chemicals called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, or PAH for short) were discovered causing extreme damage to local wildlife. The impact report from the Cosco Busan highlights some of this harm on the wildlife’s reproductive health. The compensation paid was $44 million, four years after the incident. This payout could have been significantly higher had the accident taken place in more pristine waters, such as California’s national marine parks, just outside San Francisco.
2. Volume of bunker oil
Initially, 1000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil was leaked from the MV Wakashio into Mauritius' ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the case of the Wakashio, satellite analysis reveals that the vessel had just completed a refuelling stop for 18 hours in Singapore on 13 July 2020 and was only in the first 12 days of its long journey to Brazil to transport a heavy cargo of iron ore.
As of 11 August, over 700 metric tons had been leaked and not retrieved from Mauritius’ pristine waters, three and a half times that of one of the worst Heavy Fuel Oil spill of 191 metric tons by the Cosco Busan. It was reported that further leaks have happened overnight, and these volumes have not yet been confirmed.
3. Location of the oil spill: at the center of a network global biodiversity hotspots
Primary age school boy admiring the starfish snorkeling in the shallow water of lagoon, Ile aux ... [+] GETTY
Multiple global biodiversity hotspots: Whereas the Cosco Busan accident occurred in the heavily industrialized San Francisco Harbor, the Wakashio crashed into the center of a network of three internationally renown and protected nature refuges containing some of the most endangered species on the planet. These were the two UNESCO Ramsar Protected sites of Blue Bay Marine Park, Pointe D’Esny Mangrove Forests, as well as the nature preserve of Ile aux Aigrettes that contained some of the rarest species in the country, such as Mauritius' last remaining low lying ebony forests, not found
on any other location on the island. The oil spill has also spread to other outlying islands - the network of Islets National Parks, that were protected nature reserves for Mauritius’ endemic species, such as Ile de la Passe, llot Vacoas, Ilot Phare, Ile aux Fouquets, Ile Marianne, Ile aux Fous, which could be seen by satellite to have been engulfed by the toxic oil slick. By the fifth day of the spill, the slick could be seen as far as 14 miles North at the protected Ile aux Cerfs. These have habitats and populations that have been carefully monitored for years and in the case of many endangered species under the care of the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, had been on the path to recovery - one of global conservation’s greatest success stories.
Mauritius Oil Spill
Morphology of the HFO spill site: In addition to the species impacted, the conditions around the location of the spill site adds increasing complexity. As a comparison, 30 years after the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989, over 20,000 gallons of oil continue to remain trapped and still ooze from the rocks, less than half (13 of 32) wildlife populations monitored had recovered, and a pod of killer whales had lost 15 of its 22 members after the spill and was expected to die off completely in the coming years. The shores around Prince William Sound in Alaska where the Exxon Valdez ran aground was next to Alaska’s wildlife preserves and had rocky, shale-like bedrock which still trapped the residue oil.
Mauritius beach
Image of the deep sandy beaches and crystal blue waters of Blue Bay Marine Park, Mauritius, prior to ... [+] GETTY
The conditions around the Pointe d’Esny crash site of the Wakashio will make oil recovery much more challenging than the case of the Prince William Sound, which had rocky bedrock. Looking at the direction of travel of the spill, these are some of the largest and most protected soft, sandy beaches in Mauritius interspersed with the root systems of protected mangrove forests, and contained with the largest coral reef lagoon in Mauritius.
The strong wind and current conditions had already started dispersing the spill
Satellite SAR captures the extent of the spill entering Blue Bay Marine Park
Satellite SAR captures the extent of the spill entering Blue Bay Marine Park and many of the ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
around other beaches and outlying coral atolls. These conditions are already trapping heavy oil particles amid the sand and root systems of the mangroves. This will make the task significantly more complicated as the oil is absorbed by the roots and sandy beaches, effectively acting as giant sponges to the toxic oil. So whilst a lot of the oil may not be visible to the naked eye or by satellite, it’s presence will be felt for many years to come. This means that such toxins are likely to be around for many years, even if not visible to the naked eye.
4. Bunker fuel in the tropics: enhanced ultra-violet (UV) toxicity
Heavy Fuel Oil is particularly lethal in areas of high sunshine, such as the tropical climate of Mauritius. It is important to understand the science about why this is the case, as the type of oil carried by the Wakashio potentially carries increased toxicity in a tropical climate.
Small organisms readily absorb an array of chemicals from spilled Heavy Fuel Oil. Once inside an organism’s tissues, when some of these chemicals interact with ultra-violet (UV) rays of sunlight, energy is released from the chemicals that cause damaging chemical reactions. These reactions lead to tissue death, with very small organisms literally falling apart.
Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus Demersus), covered in oil from tanker spill
Do not expect to see many images of oil drenched birds: all the changes are taking place invisible ... [+] GETTY
When Heavy Fuel Oil interacts with ultra-violet (UV) rays of sunlight, it transforms the chemical properties of the oil, increasing its reactivity and toxicity. It is particularly lethal to translucent organisms close to the surface, such as corals as their naked skin lets in the light that can then be photo-reactive with the oil compounds. These oil chemical compounds when exposed through the translucent skin are then photo-modified and are ingested by the corals. This leads to toxicity and can cause organisms to die or dissolve in minutes, as prior research shows such as the results from from the 2007 Cosco Busan disaster, entitled ‘Sunlight and bunker oil a fatal combination for Pacific herring’ and ‘Potent Phototoxicity of Marine Bunker Oil to Translucent Herring Embryos.’
The enhanced UV toxicity of bunker fuel impacts the young of many species, such as larval fish both directly as well as through their reproductive cycles. Many coral reef fishes breed in the protected nursery grounds of the mangroves that are currently drenched in heavy oil. This nursing habitat is likely to be severely disrupted over the upcoming weeks, months and years, even if there is no immediate physical appearance of dark oil to the naked eye. The leaching of the oil over time from these habitats will continue to create a pollution hazard.
Qingdao BGI Research Institute
How samples should be tested: DNA extraction from fish, 12 August 2020. Samples can be stored ... [+] BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES
Importantly the researchers who have studied prior oil spills have developed molecular technology that enables sampling of genes that are like a light switch- they turn on and off when exposure to toxic substances occurs. Using genomic (DNA) sensing, their advanced techniques using standard PCR technologies can indicate if fish and invertebrates are being exposed to the future. Careful collections of samples can aid in making these determinations.
5. Timing: cooler winter waters at the time of the crash
Sperm whales
It is common to see pods of mating sperm whales off the coast of Mauritius during mating season in ... [+] GETTY
Compounding all of these factors, Heavy Bunker Fuel evaporates during warmer weather. When there is cooler waters, remnants of Heavy Fuel Oil will remain in the water for much longer. This then contributes toward weathering of the oil.
Mauritius is in the Southern hemisphere. This means Mauritius was going through it’s usual cooler, southern hemisphere winter waters. This is why it was the low season for tourists (independent of Covid-19).
It is during these times that Mauritius experiences its famous major whale migrations of various species that often give birth and mate around the coast of Mauritius. They migrate up to Mauritius from Antarctica each year following an abundant food supply of krill. Mauritius is known for its many whale sightings at this time of year, with iconic species of Humpback Whales, Great Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, among several other whale species. This is an important breeding time for such cetaceans, especially in the cooler waters (Austral Winter).
So this fifth factor creates a particularly toxic combination, more leftover oil in cooler waters, with UV from sunlight weathering what oil remains. The accident could not have happened at a worse time, place and latitude for the rich biodiversity on the coast and in the clear deep ocean off the coast of Mauritius.
Next steps to save nature: sample, sample, sample
Water pollution
Collecting and properly storing samples are critical in the upcoming days, with the right expertise ... [+] GETTY
In order to save nature and restore habitats to their prior conditions, it is important to understand the five phases that an oil spill response will go through. These are listed here. And the factors for compensation are listed here.
In the case of a Heavy Fuel Oil Spill, there are several clear lessons on the oil spill response from the Cosco Busan bunker fuel spill in San Francisco, which remains one of the best studied examples.
Ultimately, a Spill Impact Assessment Report will need to be written. For the Cosco Busan bunker fuel spill, this can still be read online here. This is critical reading for any country that experiences a Heavy Fuel Oil Spill. Whilst there are a lot of deep scientific details, what is clear, was that the entire report revolved around the quality of the sampling.
Hence it is critical to start immediately collecting and documenting specimens of coral, fish and other wildlife at regular (daily) intervals and ensure these are time stamped and geo-tagged. Samples will need to be frozen (ideally at temperatures of -80C) and kept in a locked repository with good security to prove the samples were not tampered with. In many countries, the boxes that samples are stored in are locked, chained and have security cameras on to ensure no tampering, given how critical this evidence is. Without the correct documentation, samples will not be admitted.
Given Mauritius has a large tuna fishing industry and a large offshore aquaculture sector nearby which require large freezing capabilities to permit seafood exports, such facilities should easily allow such samples to be properly collected, labelled, and stored in tamper-proof containers. Also, given that this is currently the low point in the tourist season, there are a significant number of dive center instructors, tour boat operators and local fishermen who could be trained and mobilized in such an effort.
MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
Just as the mantra for Covid-19 had been ‘test, test, test,’ as Mauritius successfully protected itself from the worst effects, the mantra to address this silent and invisible killer second wave from the oil spill should be ‘sample, sample, sample.’
The cataloguing and chain of custody of the samples are equally important during this process. The US Guide to Sample Preparation and Documentation is one of the best in the world, and contains many templates that are still in use to document samples, such as on Page 23 on NOAA’s Guide to Sample Documentation here. These samples will ultimately be the critical tool for a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), which is conducted at a Federal level in the US and explained here.
Preparing for the worst: hoping for the best
Whilst the entire world hopes for the best recovery of this critical habitat, it is important to start preparing for the worst. This is at least the lesson taught to the entire world from Covid-19, and from Heavy Fuel Oil spills around the world that continue to leak their deadly poison decades later.
As lessons from all major oil spills have shown, the critical actions taken in the early days following a disaster can make all the difference between an ecosystem that does or does not recover. It’s as simple as that.
The Five Factors That Decide How Much Compensation After A Major Oil Spill
Aug 15, 2020,12:00am EDT|2.044 views
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/15/the-five-factors-that-decide-how-much-compensation-after-a-major-oil-spill
Nishan Degnarain
After a series of major maritime incidents last week in the Port of Beirut, off the coast of Mauritius and brewing off the coast of Yemen potentially impacting the entire Red Sea, questions are being asked about what factors go into determining a payout, and who pays.
There are five major factors that usually go into a report. This ultimately helps decide How Much and Who Pays.
1. Event
The first question is what was the cause of the incident and where did the source of the pollutant originate from. In heavily polluted areas, it is hard to determine whether pollution comes from a particular vessel, as there is often several overlapping pollution streams. It is much easier to assess in areas where the waters were already clear, and no other heavy industrial vessels are present. It is then apparent where the source of the oil spill came from.
The US has a library of every chemical signature by vessel and fuel type. Whenever an incident occurs, samples taken from across the extent of the spill are taken and compared against this library to forensically determine the source of the oil (whether from a particular vessel or other existing pre-existing polluting activities).
This is why scientifically cataloging, geo-locating, documenting and securely storing samples are vital in the early days following a spill.
2. Pathway
In some cases, this evidence may come from satellite imagery, especially Synthetic Aperture Radar, that can often pick up the extent of the spill that may be missed by the naked eye. Such satellite tracking can then follow the pathway of the pollution and become critical evidence during any arbitration.
However, satellite tracking is not sufficient alone. The most robust way to assess the pathway of pollution is through robust and comprehensive sampling, cataloging, securely storing samples (ideally in -80C conditions), particularly if areas are in hard to reach habitats like amid the root systems of coastal mangrove forests.
3. Exposure
Even if an oil spill occurs in one region, the impact of the incident is often much larger. Fish and other creatures absorb harmful chemicals in their body and transport this to other regions.
Hence it is critical that sampling takes place across as wide an area as possible to capture the extent of the exposure to the polluting incident.
In the case of Heavy Fuel Oil in the tropics, the impact of ultra-violet (UV) light makes this a particularly toxic combination for fragile species and other translucent species that absorbs these chemicals.
4. Injury
The science to assess the extent of injury has advanced significantly in recent years. Since the 1950s, a traditional test was to count the number of dead fish and seabirds - a bio-toxicology test known as LC50 that had been in use since the 1950s). However, science has moved on from this type of testing. As scientists have better understood the impact of toxins like oil and other harmful chemicals (such as PAH from Heavy Fuel Oil) on marine life, more modern assessment tools have been developed to understand ‘sub-lethal impacts.’ This means that whilst the oil spill does not immediately kill species, it could cause a range of longer term, biological complications, such as impacting the ability of species to reproduce, causing new animal diseases such as cancer, impacting fragile nursing ground such as beaches where turtles lay their eggs.
These are some of the hardest parts to diagnose and require world class marine specialists in animal diseases. This was why the case in the Deepwater Horizon case was so strong, leading to the $20 billion payout, much higher than was expected. These experts will vary by species, so a multi-disciplinary team will need to be assembled that understand the biology of each species being impacted (a lot more varied in biodiversity hotspots).
This is where sampling of species and presence (e.g., changes in species population) becomes critical. New technologies, such as San Francisco-based technology company, Saildrone, who works with the US Ocean Agency NOAA and can provide such assessments at a scale and fraction of the cost of traditional human-led methods.
5. Economic Valuation
Once the first four steps of the scientific baseline has been assessed, there is a discussion around what the economic cost is.
This often revolves around several factors:
Loss of livelihoods. Has income to local fishermen, tourism, aquaculture and any supporting businesses such as restaurants, food supply firms, taxi services been impacted.
Industries impacted. Oil spills can often have macroeconomic impacts affecting the entire economy. These effects must be understood.
Human Health. Oil spills are notoriously toxic on human health and can lead to many medical complications for years to come. The estimated costs of supporting any community who become ill, must be calculated.
Impact on Cultural and Historic Heritage. Given that the Wakashio crashed in the midst of one of the most iconic and historic sites of Mauritius is significant, especially as this battle is so famous it is featured in the Arc de Triomphe. The Battle of Grand Port was the most important and defining battle for Mauritius when the country changed hands from French to British control in 1810, and the area is rich with Napoleonic-era wrecks that have laid untouched for over two centuries. Documenting and understand the cultural importance and impact of the spill and wreck on this protected site is important, including any accelerated declines in historic monuments and structures caused by the spill and vessel.
Uniqueness of the nature impacted. It is not just the amount of wildlife impacted, but how unique this nature is. Again, it is not just the initial mortality from the first wave of the event, but understanding any secondary or long term impacts that can only be shown with genetic bio-markers.
Commercial value of the nature impacted. Given that some of this unique nature have important commercial properties useful for future medicines from ocean genomics and industrial processes in the bioeconomy, there is a clear economic loss having had an oil spill over commercially valuable and unique biology.
Functions of the structures impacted (e.g., Coastal Protection). In the case of the great barrier reef of Mauritius around Pointe d’Esny, this provides coastal protection coverage from storm surges, soil erosion and other impacts from the climate change. Any changes or loss of the great barrier reef could have catastrophic impacts on fishing areas, how currents flow within the lagoon and even protection for the Eastern Coast of Mauritius itself. This is significant.
Effectiveness of the cleanup. Where the cleanup operations have not succeeded in removing all traces of the spill, damages and consideration for long term clean up costs must be given.
Other factors. These are just some of several other factors that are taken into account when making a settlement.
It is important to invest the time in such an assessment properly as this could make the difference in the compensation by an order of magnitude (10x). The lessons from how the Cosco Busan Heavy Fuel Oil Spill Impact Assessment was conducted is important. In that incident where 191 metric tons (just under 54,000 gallons) of Heavy Fuel Oil was spilled into the already industrially contaminated San Francisco Bay, the damages awarded was $44m.
Who pays
It is not the shipping line who pays, so the solvency of the shipping line should not matter to any compensation. All major shipping lines pay into a collective insurance coverage that covers catastrophic losses. This used to be run under ITOPF, who were set up in 1967 following the largest oil spill at the time (the Torrey Canyon off the coast of England). The negative publicity following this incident was a catalyst for oil tanker owners to create a voluntary scheme to ensure the compensation was available to those affected by oil pollution. This scheme was set in an agreement known as the Tanker Owners Voluntary Agreement concerning Liability for Oil Pollution (TOVALOP), with ITOPF was originally established to administer this scheme.
A whole constellation of insurers, crash investigators and scientists acting on behalf of the insurance firms may descend onto the scene for the next few weeks, months and years. Sometimes, these organizations may have different incentives than ensuring the best outcome for an impacted country. There have been examples in the past where this has led to the creation of ‘counter-narratives’ to prolong legal action and add confusion to what the true extent of the damage was due to the spill itself.
Lessons from Chagos
In the week when the US sent stealth bombers to its military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia for the first time since 2016, amid rising tensions with China, there may be some important lessons from history.
A hastily signed agreement in 1982 by several of the displaced islanders for what appeared to be significant compensation at the time, led to complications in legal cases three decades later.
It is important that other small island states who may be impacted by industrial accidents caused by large and sophisticated maritime sector companies, learn from the chapters of history, and engage the right expertise early to guide decisionmaking.
Creation of an Independent Environmental Remediation Trust Fund
Whilst the process for compensation may extend for several years in complex situations where the full extent of the environmental impact is not fully understood, it is prudent to start preparing how to receive and administer any funding.
A clear strategic plan and independent governance structure is needed to ensure priorities are set out to restore habitats, safeguard lives and build resilience. Given that the windfall is to restore the livelihoods and environment of a region, the funds essentially have to act as a separate Sovereign Wealth Fund for future generations and not part of the operating budget of the Government of the day. Such a fund may need to be in existence for several decades to come.
Creating such an Environmental Rehabilitation Trust Fund, with clear parameters, transparency, performance metrics, and governance, should ensure that other small islands that fall victim to large scale industrial accidents, can become global icons in how to build back better.
Macron’s Interventions Backfire As Mauritius To Sink The Wakashio In Whale Nursing Grounds
Nishan Degnarain
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/18/macrons-interventions-backfire-as-mauritius-to-sink-the-wakashio-in-whale-nursing-grounds
Aug 18, 2020,06:36am EDT|107.439 views
Local media in Mauritius began reporting on 18 August 2020 that the broken front half of the vessel would be towed 8 miles to the East of the island and sunk.
Prime whale nursing grounds
That location is an area known as a famous nursing ground for whales and their calves, who are in the full swing of their migration from Antarctica in the midst of the Mauritian winter.
It is during these times that Mauritius experiences its famous major whale migrations of various species that often give birth and mate off the coast of Mauritius. They migrate up to Mauritius from Antarctica each year following an abundant food supply of krill. Mauritius is known for its many whale sightings at this time of year, with iconic species of Humpback Whales, Great Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, among several other whale species. This is an important breeding time for such cetaceans, especially in the cooler waters (Austral Winter).
MAURITIUS: A group of sperm whales in the sleeping phase in a position called candle. Sperm whales ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Former President of Mauritius and leading Biodiversity Scientist, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim described the rich waters off the coast of Mauritius. "In surveys conducted between 2009-10, over 1200 sightings of whales were seen, covering 17 different species. During these surveys, there were 8 sightings of the rare Sirenian Dugong Dugon and 586 turtle sighting. This shows marine life off the coast of Mauritius was vibrant and thriving before the Wakashio crash"
Former President of Mauritius, leading biodiversity scientist, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES
Assessments are still being carried out on any impacts of the heavy fuel oil pollution on whale behavior in the Bay caused by the Wakashio, since it ran aground on Mauritius’ largest living coral reef system 25 days ago.
It is not clear what the impact of the rusting metal of the large vessel would have on the nursing grounds of these whale populations or on the fragile Coral Reef systems along the East shore of the vessel or on French Island, La Reunion, which would be down current of the sunken Wakashio wreck.
The Wakashio was the biggest category of mainstream ocean going vessels in the world - known as a ‘Capesize.’
This category of vessel is so large that it is unable to fit through the Suez Canal, and hence travels around the coast of Mauritius. Of approximately 60,000 large ocean-going vessels, only 500 are Capesize, putting the Wakashio in the top 1% in terms of size of ship in the world.
At 300m in length, the Wakashio was longer than the Titanic and a similar length to a US Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier.
French and Japanese officials did not object to plan
Both French and Japanese officials are present on the ground in Mauritius and appeared to support the decision to dump the hull of the vessel into Mauritian waters at that particular location, despite French expertise in the Indian Ocean with the French colony of La Reunion being a sister island of Mauritius linked along the same underwater volcanic chain.
Vessel owner Nagashiki Shipping Co Ltd has been approached whether they also support the decision to dump the vessel in Mauritian waters at that location.
In a press conference by Sebastien Lecornuu on 17 August, the French Oversea Minister was criticized for not appearing to endorse alternatives to the sinking of the Wakashio in Mauritian waters, that is now causing outrage on social media on the island.
More questions for global shipping
An assessment of satellite weather reports revealed that are no major storms in the region. Once more, important questions are being asked about the global shipping industry, and whether poor regulatory oversight, a lax attitude toward both sustainability and poor ability to monitor safety standards were the main contributors to this disaster, compounded by other clear failures in leadership that appear systemic in nature.
How could a vessel that was only 13 years old, and one of the biggest in the world, could have an accident and sink off the coast in a world class tourist and biodiversity hotspot with the eyes of the world and global experts watching.
Decades of heavy metal pollution if Wakashio is sunk
There has not been a statement about the pollution and heavy metal implications for dumping such a large iron-ore carrying vessel amid grounds which are also bountiful in tuna and other deep ocean marine species.
Mauritian tuna had some of the lowest concentrations of heavy metals than any tuna in the world, compared with the significantly high levels of contaminants within tuna from the East Pacific Ocean. The presence of such metals could have implications for this important industry of Mauritius.
It seems the final chapter of this stricken vessel continues to drag out. Multiple more natural habitats of tuna feeding grounds, whale nursing grounds and the potential impacts of the size of such a large vessel on any of the fragile coral reef systems and marine life that surround the Indian Ocean island as well as on the French Island of La Reunion, into whose direction the ocean currents would also take any pollutants and rust over time.
President Macron’s interventions were welcomed with open arms by the Mauritian people just 10 days ago.
However, it appears the fate of the French President’s Mauritian adventure is likely to go the same way as the Wakashio: beached, broken and sunk.
Dramatic Photos Show Wakashio Being Deliberately Sunk As Mystery Continues Over Final Location
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/25/dramatic-photos-show-wakashio-being-deliberately-sunk-as-mystery-continues-over-final-location
Nishan Degnarain
Aug 25, 2020,12:56am EDT|29.287 views
24 August 2020: photos just released show the forward section of the 300m long Japanese iron ore carrier, The Wakashio - one of the largest vessels in the ocean - being deliberately sunk
Photos released overnight show the dramatic final moments of the forward section of the oil spill vessel, The Wakashio on Monday 24 August 2020. In a series of press releases, the Government of Mauritius revealed that the operation to deliberately sink the forward section of the Wakashio was finally completed on 24 August, having had to be paused the previous day due to weather conditions.
It is now 30 days since the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel, hit the pristine coral reefs of Mauritius amid a network of national parks after carrying an almost full tank of over 1 million gallons of heavy engine oil. In the subsequent efforts to clean up the spill, the vessel split in two and the oil slick spread to ten times its original size within 5 days, spreading 14 miles North along the coast given the strong winds in that location. On Friday 21 August, the UN satellites revealed that over 30km of Mauritius’ beaches, mangroves and coastlines were ‘heavily impacted.’
24 August 2020: dramatic final photos as the bow of Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned MV Wakashio can be seen rising several meters high in the air over the blue waters of what is believed to be the Indian Ocean
Mystery location - why the secrecy?
Despite seven official Government press releases between Tuesday 18 August - when the Wakashio was first first dragged off the coral reefs - and Monday 24 August - when the bow finally sunk under water - not one of the press releases revealed any co-ordinates or location of the final sinking of the vessel. This has made it impossible to independently verify the location of the sinking, despite media pressure for this location.
At a time when trust in the authorities is at an all time low, following repeated assurances at every stage of the grounding that things were under control, civil society remain angry with the secretive decision to sink the forward section of the Wakashio without a full exploration of all other options.
In a statement on Friday 19 August, Greenpeace Africa’s Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, Happy Khambule, had strongly criticized the decision to sink the Wakashio, saying, “Out of all available options, the Mauritian government is choosing the worst one. Sinking this vessel would risk biodiversity and contaminate the ocean with large quantities of heavy metal toxins, threatening other areas as well, notably the French island of La Réunion. Mauritians had nothing to gain from the MV Wakashio crossing their waters and are now asked to pay the price of this disaster. More pollution further risks their tourist-based economy and fish-based food security.”
24 August 2020: the front section of the Wakashio sinks beneath the clean blue ocean as it is deliberately sunk
Cause of initial Wakashio incident still unknown
This secrecy over the final location of the sinking adds further intrigue and mystery to the Wakashio, whose cause of the intial incident is still unknown and subject to significant speculation on Mauritius.
In a statement to Forbes on 23 August, by the owners of the vessel, Nagashiki Shipping, said that “the exact cause of the grounding is under investigation and Nagashiki Shipping is co-operating fully with the relevant authorities in this ongoing investigation but in order to avoid any speculation the exact cause of the incident is not yet known.”
24 August 2020: several holds in the Wakashio were flooded to sink the vessel as the ship's helipad could be visibly seen before the vessel started to sink vertically.
Role of France?
In a contradictory set of statements last week, the role of France was placed under further scrutiny in the operation. The Mauritian Minister for the Environment, Kavydass Ramano, acknowledged the reservations held by visiting French Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, about the sinking of the forward section of the vessel.
In a statement to Mauritian parliament on 18 August, the Mauritian Environment Minister said, “The Minister [Sébastien Lecornu] expressed concerns on the disposal of the forward section of the vessel. In that respect, he dispatched three experts from Cedre and Cellule Anti-Pollution, who were in Mauritius yesterday.”
Yet in a statement released at the same time by the Mauritian National Crisis Committee, the Government revealed, “The scuttling position and conditions are in conformity with the advice of the French experts present in Mauritius.”
23 August 2020: in photos released by the Government of Mauritius, the final preparations to scuttle the Wakashio can be seen with two support vessels and aircraft support
Six days of ‘cat and mouse’ across the ocean
The secretive mission to sink the front of the Wakashio had been captured overhead by satellite since the vessel was split in two on 15 August, and was towed away from Mauritius’ barrier reef off the coast of Point d’Esny in the island’s South East corner.
Despite six days of towing the vessel, the Governments of Mauritius, France and Japan, who were all involved in the decision and operation to sink the Wakashio, the vessel owners, Nagashiki Shipping, the global shipping regulator, UN agency International Maritime Organization who were all on site in Mauritius and also responsible for maritime pollution (called Marpol), all remained tight lipped about the final destination or co-ordinates of the vessel.
This is at a time when the world is aware of the need for stronger action against climate change, biodiversity protection and protection of the ocean. Each of these organizations had made bold statements about the need to restore ocean health as part of UN SDG14, however, their actions reveal radically different intentions than their words.
The South Easterly Direction
16 August to 19 August 2020: track taken by two support vessels Malta-flagged Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, who appear to be towing the front section of the Wakashio in a South Easterly direction
16 August to 19 August 2020: track taken by two support vessels Malta-flagged Boka Summit and Boka ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
Four parts of the Wakashio operation
While the front half of the vessel now remains under water, attention turns to the three other parts of the ongoing cleanup and rehabilitation operation:
The rear of the vessel remains stuck on the reef with 7000 gallons of diesel oil still on board
The cleanup of the oil on the beach still needs to begin, amid growing uncertainty over what forms of cleanup technique will be deployed. In many parts of the world, harmful chemical dispersants ended up having a more damaging impact than the oil spill itself, especially given the very sensitive marine environment around Mauritius’ pristine coral reefs.
The scientific baseline to help establish the plan for rehabilitation of this once pristine region of the country. Again, the secretive nature of the data collection and scientific approach has caused significant disquiet among a population who have been calling for transparency and honesty from the outset.
As corporate actors present also get drawn into the net of secrecy around the cleanup operation, the Wakashio is fast becoming a Business Case study on what not to do following a major industrial accident
Aug 28, 2020,12:01am EDT|4.811 views
Oil Spill August: What Two Major Oil Spills In Venezuela And Mauritius Now Mean For The World
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/28/oil-spill-august-what-the-major-oil-spills-in-venezuela-and-mauritius-mean-for-the-world
Nishan Degnarain
August has been a very bad month for the ocean, having been battered by oil spills, explosions, and poorly regulated shipping.
While the eyes of the world were first shocked by the explosion on 4 August in Beirut Port from poorly stored Ammonium Nitrate being carried by a Moldovan-flagged vessel, and then the massive oil spill on 6 August in Mauritius by a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned iron ore ship that split apart against a coral lagoon, Venezuela was experiencing its own major oil spill which officials first started detecting on 2 August.
It was a bunker fuel oil spill (same as Mauritius) and has now been estimated at being twice the size as the one in Mauritius. The cause was not immediately obvious and satellite data suggests the leak either came from a Portugal-flagged vessel or an oil pipeline close to a petroleum hub in the region.
Venezuela, Falcon, Morrocoy National Park, one of islands which are part of protected wilderness area, aerial view
Venezuela, Falcon, Morrocoy National Park, one of islands which are part of protected wilderness ... [+] DE AGOSTINI VIA GETTY IMAGES
It was also in a pristine protected National Park, full of coral reefs, mangrove forests and turtle nesting grounds. This is the second time Venezuela has experienced a major oil spill in the last year, following over 1500 miles of Brazil’s beaches experiencing over 2000 tons of heavy engine oil in September. That spill was suspected to come from a Greek-flagged vessel, which, incidentally also uses shipping lanes close to Mauritius. At the time, it was shown that 600 tons of oil could easily be leaked within 30 minutes of a ship transfer gone wrong.
What do we know about the Venezuela Oil Spill, and in what way is was it similar to the oil spill faced by Mauritius?
Here are seven similarities.
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, the oil spill occurred in the midst of what were supposed to be highly protected national parks. In both Mauritius and Venezuela, these parks contain a rich variety of biodiversity and a range of different coastal ecosystems - protected coral reefs, mangrove forests that are breeding grounds for reef fish, sandy beaches that are habitats and nesting grounds for turtles.
Venezuela’s Oil Spill leak occurred in Morrocoy National Park in the North West of the country. The Wakashio vessel oil spill in Mauritius occurred amid a network of internationally protected coral and mangrove reserves in Pointe d’Esny in the South East of the country, which was also home to rearing efforts of some of the rarest plants, birds, lizards, and butterflies on the planet.
It showed that while many Governments have announced protected areas on paper, they have not put in place the enforcement mechanisms to protect these areas from large, industrial disasters.
Both Mauritius and Venezuela were bunker fuel oil spills, rather than crude oil spills (like Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon). This means they may be smaller in volume but could become a lot more toxic in sunnier environments due to the effect of the sun’s ultra-violet light on this heavy engine oil, turning it into an invisible, deadly chemical killer. Secretive clean up efforts in many cases have resulted in outcomes worse than the initial oil spill by using chemical dispersants that harm the extremely fragile ocean microbiome, particularly around delicate coral reef systems (because of the way the cleanup was approached, Venezuela estimates the effects could last as long as 50 years).
In Mauritius’ case, it was clear that the oil came from the Wakashio vessel as this fuel type was not used to fuel any vessels in the lagoon previously. However, in Venezuela’s case, it took a little detective work to figure out the source - despite Government claims the source was from a vessel, the local university showed
Philippine Coastguard personnels aboard
The use of spray oil dispersant chemicals have been found to be even more destructive on life in the ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
through chemical analysis that the source could be from the petrochemical hub centered around the ‘El Palito’ refinery. From satellite calculations, the stain of 7.6 km long by 1.5 km wide corresponded to a spill of 26,730 barrels of oil.
When asked about the effect of Bunker Fuel (VLSFO) in the long term over delicate coral ecosystems, the UN agency responsible global shipping admitted it did not know the long term implications of such fuels in fragile coral reef ecosystems.
On 19 August 2020, an IMO spokesperson said "because this fuel is so new, research has only just been initiated on its fate and behavior in the environment, particularly over a longer period. It’s really the longer term fate and effects that are not yet known."
Yet, the IMO has sent experts specifically to advise on the clean up operations, raising greater concerns if the wrong approach to the clean up is taken that could cause even greater long term harm than the oil spill itself.
3. Satellites detected the spills
15 August 2020: Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar allows bunker fuel spills to be more effectively identified than through optical satellites alone
15 August 2020: Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar allows bunker fuel spills to be ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, satellites were the critical technology to help understand the spread and impact. While optical satellites only revealed the more concentrated dark patches of oil, it was the new technologies of Synthetic Aperture Radar, such as provided by Finish company Iceye and Ursa Space Systems, that was able to reveal the extent of the spread across the East Coast of Mauritius and into the protected areas of Blue Bay Marine Park and 14 miles North to Ile aux Cerfs (2 miles from where 18 dolphins were found dead on 26 August).
In Venezuela’s case, a large patch of dark oil could be seen from satellites. Using AIS tracking correlated with the spread of the spill, some commentators were able to identify the vessels that had been close to the area when the oil appeared. However, upon further investigation, it appeared that the oil leaked from a refinery on the coast linked to the state-run oil company PDVSA, that had been heavily criticized in the past.
4. Volume of the spill
Workers collect leaked oil at the beach in Riviere des Creoles on August 15, 2020, due to the oil ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, officials had tried to state that the volume of oil spilled was relatively small (in Venezuela’s case, it was claimed that the authorities and oil company only started paying attention to the spill 22 days after the leak happened). The Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences Academy (ACFIMAN) and the Engineering and Habitat Academy (ANIH) said in a statement on August 20th that “The procedures that the company implemented showed the precariousness of the equipment and personnel with scarce training and knowledge to respond to the magnitude of the damaged caused… The delayed and precarious response of PDVSA and the Ministry of Environment, the MINEC, and the silence of the prosecutor’s office and ombudsman demonstrate again the level of deinstitutionalization of the country.”
A variety of confusing communication terms was used in Mauritius, such as only referring to the oil spill using a weight measurement (in metric tons) of the leaked oil, rather than the conventional volume measurements for oil spills (gallons and barrels).
In Venezuela, it is now estimated that 26,730 barrels were leaked at the end of July. This is higher than the amount of barrels estimated to have been leaked from Mauritius (7000), although this figure is from 11 August (16 days ago) when over 15,000 barrels remained on board, and even though more oil could be seen leaking, the final number in the coral lagoon still has not been disclosed.
In Venezuela 15 km of coastline had been impacted compared with UN estimates of 30 km in Mauritius. These are critical habitats for a variety of wildlife.
5. Governments downplaying the true impact of the spill
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu (L) and Mauritius's Minister of Environment, Solid Waste ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Both Venezuela and Mauritius’ Government’s responses have been heavily criticized. First, both have tried to underplay the incident. In Venezuela officials repeatedly claimed they had the situation under control.
In Mauritius, the Government reassured the population that there was no risk when the single-hub vessel had spent 12 days on Mauritian’ reefs, dragging by over 1 km, then as oil spilled into the lagoon, the population were told it was a small leak, then the vessel split in two on 15 August and was deliberately sunk in the coral lagoon on 24 August, to the consternation of the entire population who then started seeing dozens of dead dolphins appear on their beaches, and are now organizing national protests on Saturday 29 August.
Both Venezuela and Mauritius did not disclose the amount of oil that was leaked - it took external validation and satellites to prove the impact was. Such secretive approaches ended up backfiring with environmental non profit groups.
6. Declaring victory too soon
Both Venezuela and Mauritian Governments have tried to declare victory too quickly. The focus had been on ending visual pollution, but by using chemical dispersants, this could have extended length of time the impact would now have.
In Venezuela’s case, scientists have warned that it will take over 50 years to restore its habitat. In Mauritius, the lack of transparency surrounding the science being done has meant that the science has been politicized (for example, at a press conference on 26 Aug attended by the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Govt sponsored NGOs and international specialists, it was announced that the cause of 18 dolphin deaths was not due to the oil spill or sinking of the vessel before an autopsy could even be performed).
What citizens need in a crisis is the constant drip of reliable information and transparency, in order to build trust.
7. Secretive and bodged oil spill cleanup
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, there has been growing concern about the use of chemical clean up agents along with some very protected areas of coastline. Such chemicals (called dispersants) break down the oil into visible particles that become easier to be absorbed by marine creatures and corals (a process called increasing bio-availability). This means that the effects could be a lot more toxic, and the process of spreading harsh chemicals along delicate beaches, mangroves, and corals would do untold damage to ecosystems facing the pressures from climate change, oil spill, and now a major chemical cleanup operation.
8. Ongoing risks
Concentrated shipping lanes around Maracaibo Lake in Venezuela as 1.3m barrels in a broken down ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Even though the focus had been on Venezuela’s oil spill, another massive oil tanker was at risk of collapsing off the coast of Venezuela with 1.3 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Paria, risking the entire Venezuela Coast and Caribbean islands.
In Mauritius, whilst the operation was still ongoing to remove the rear of the Wakashioa off the coral lagoon, another massive Marshall-islands flagged vessel broke down 300 miles North of Mauritius.
These root causes of safety in the global shipping industry have never been fully addressed, raising the question whether the next accident is just a matter of when, not if.
A strong international call for change
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion climate action group protest outside the International ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
At the same time as both countries were facing an outcry from environmental organizations within their countries, global NGOs had started to step up their fight against Big Oil and Global Shipping.
Greenpeace has issued a series of stern letters against the operators of the shipping company and salvage operation, calling for an international investigation into the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio.
Environmental NGO WWF has also called for leaders to look at the regulations surrounding how global shipping is regulated and calling for influential leaders to step up their support for reform.
This comes as a new petition for change in the Global Shipping industry has gone to leaders of the G20, calling for change. In this petition, four asks are made:
A call to end ‘Flags of Convenience’ (such as the Moldova-flagged vessel involved in Beirut, the Panama-flagged vessel in Mauritius, and a new Marshall Islands-flagged vessel has broken down 300 miles North of Mauritius, as the wreck of the Wakashio is still being removed).
A call to ban fossil fuels from ships (the shipping industry notoriously excluded themselves from the Paris Agreement and subsequent industry-self regulation has been heavily criticized as greenwashing with weak targets that rely on self-reporting).
A call to to ban single hull vessels immediately (the risks in Mauritius would have been avoided had the heavy engine fuel been contained in a double hulled vessels as global shipping had been asked to do following Exxon Valdez and which was about to be announced after 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay, until lobbying from global shipping companies softened those rules).
Safer habitats for large marine mammals (such as whales and dolphins) that could be achieved by reducing whale strikes in whale nursing grounds, avoiding such whale nursing grounds or slow steaming through, reducing the sound of vessel engines on ocean mammals, and setting up a proper global monitoring of the habitats and migration patterns of all major marine mammals.
For too long, the global shipping industry has operated under the cover of darkness. With the fate of 150 million in the Red Sea dependent on the safe removal of oil from one vessel off the coast of Yemen, two national governments on the brink of collapsing in Lebanon and Mauritius over their handling of what started as shipping crises, and another major oil spill in an important national park, the shipping industry (and associated supporting industries such as marine insurance companies, oil companies, salvage operators, oil clean up specialists, and even the global shipping regulator, the IMO) have been shown to be out of touch with the direction of the world economy, global consciousness and a younger generation who is calling for cleaner, greener, safer transport options around the world.
If these industries are unable to show the ambitious changes needed on their own, it appears from Lebanon and Mauritius, that change may be imposed on them whether they like this or not. It is the only moral response acceptable, given the scale of the ecological and human tragedy in each of the four regions that have been affected these past 2 months.
Mauritius Sees Popular Protests Over Handling Of The Wakashio Oil Spill And Whale Deaths
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/29/mauritius-sees-popular-protests-over-handling-of-the-wakashio-oil-spill-and-whale-deaths/?sh=3e22c62f5253
Nishan Degnarain
29 August 2020:
Thousands took to the streets of the Mauritian capital, Port Louis, on Saturday to express their frustration with the handling and secrecy surrounding the Wakashio oil spill. The UK’s Independent newspaper reported that one in ten on the island - over 100,000 - had turned out in protest.
Yesterday, the Minister of Maritime Affairs revealed that 39 whales and dolphins had been confirmed dead on the island, better known internationally as a paradise wedding and honeymoon destination.
Protests are relatively rare on the island, and the size of Saturday’s protests reflected the anger and solidarity felt over how the natural environment in the relatively undeveloped South and East of the island had been impacted by the oil spill and subsequent salvage operation.
Tropical atoll island and coral reef, aerial view, Mauritius
View of Ile aux Aigrettes island in the turquoise lagoon, Pointe d'Esny, Mahebourg, prior to the oil ... [+] GETTY
Mauritius is highly dependent on tourism, fisheries and its natural environment (particularly the coral reef systems that act as a natural barrier to coastal erosion), and all three had been strongly impacted by the oil spill and subsequent salvage operation. This has compounded the pressures the country was facing with the coronavirus pandemic impacting global travel and tourism.
Anger had risen over the past three days as images and videos of dead or suffering marine mammals have circulated on social media, leaving islanders feeling frustrated as their efforts had been sidelined in favor of anonymous international specialists who have not been held accountable for the decisions being taken that are impacting the lives of many in the region as well as the many years of rehabilitation work now needed to repair the damage.
Mauritius has always had a strong relationship with nature, with many national parks, protected areas, rare species breeding programs, and tourist activities that involve watching wild dolphins but carefully regulating any interactions that may domesticate them.
Expressions of international support
29 August 2020: Mauritian diaspora around the world gathered to show solidarity with the environment and protest at what has been a relatively weak response until now
29 August 2020: Mauritian diaspora around the world gathered to show solidarity with the environment ... [+] PHOTO: ALEX AUDIBERT
Earlier on Saturday, the large Mauritian diaspora had also joined in peaceful protests around the world to show solidarity with dramatic images over the past 35 days showing the impact of the grounding and subsequent oil spill.
Amid protests wearing Covid-19 protective masks, hundreds of protestors had turned out in cities around the world to express the strength of their feelings, in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the UK.
Most protestors had adopted the color black, to symbolize the impact of the oil on the usually turquoise blue waters of the coral lagoon. Drone footage overhead captured the size of the crowd, which appeared to be one of the largest public gatherings since independence in 1968 from the UK.
In what was a sunny day, the mood was largely celebratory and images of the day showed many inflatable dolphins being held aloft in support and memory of the 39 that had died to date.
Calls for a public inquiry
29 August 2020: one of the largest crowds since Mauritius attained independence had gathered in the capital city Port Louis, and peacefully marched to express their frustration with the handling of the Wakashio oil spill
The centerpiece of the day had been a series of speeches by maritime security expert, Bruneau Laurette, who has rapidly emerged as the face of a new movement calling for justice and sustainability, and has been calling for an open public inquiry into the events surrounding the grounding of the Wakashio.
In a series of presentations using satellite analysis on the main stage, he raised questions about the movements and activities of the support vessels to the Wakashio, that he had first raised in a highly viewed local television broadcast.
The cause of the grounding of the Wakashio has not yet been revealed, although the captain of the vessel has been arrested. He has not yet made a comment.
Second major crisis triggered by a shipping incident
This is the second time in a month that a Government has been shocked by protests following a major shipping incident.
Following the 4 August explosion in the Port of Beirut that caused an estimated $15 billion of damages, citizens quickly turned on the Government following years of poor governance of public institutions.
French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier tried to intervene in Beirut (as well as Mauritius), but received a hostile reception from a population expressing their frustration and anger with their local leaders.
The Cabinet of Lebanon subsequently resigned 6 days after the explosion amid mounting public anger.
In a press conference on Friday 28 August, officials in Mauritius had confirmed that many of the dead species on Mauritian beaches were Melon-headed whales.
These species are found primarily in deep, tropical waters. They are social animals and occur in groups of hundreds of individuals.
According to NOAA, Melon-headed whales also maintain a matrilineal social structure where females remain in groups with their mothers and sisters, and it is the males that move between groups. It is estimated that Melon-headed whales can live until 45 years old, and can grow to 9 feet long.
In the US, their populations are monitored in stock assessments conducted every four years, and they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act like all marine mammals.
The biggest threats facing Melon-headed whales around the world are accidentally getting caught in tuna fishing nets, increasing ocean noise, and marine pollution, especially heavy metal and man-made chemicals. Concentrations of chemicals such as perfluorocarbons and flame retardants have increased over time in whales and concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in Melon-headed whales in Hawaii and Japan are at levels thought to cause toxic effects. Such chemicals had been banned as refrigerants in the late 1970s, but continue to have long lasting impacts in the marine environment.
Was The Deliberate Sinking Of The Mauritius Oil Spill Vessel, Wakashio, An International Crime?
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/29/was-the-deliberate-sinking-of-the-oil-spill-vessel-wakashio-an-international-crime-heres-what-the-law-says/
Aug 29, 2020,11:59pm EDT|52.556 views
Nishan Degnarain
On Monday 24 August 2020, the front section of the 300-meter-long iron-ore transporter, the Wakashio, was deliberately sunk, as dramatic video was released of the sinking with cheering heard in the background. This follows a month of the ship being grounded on the reefs of Mauritius and the vessel splitting in two on 15 August.
Despite an operation to tow the front half of the vessel since half past midnight on Wednesday 19 August, 10 days later (29 August), there has still been no public disclosure of the location of the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio (although satellites have been able to ascertain the direction of travel).
Government statements have said that the vessel was sunk in waters that were 2000 meters deep (although there has been no independent verification). This would mean the pressure at the bottom would be 200 atmospheres (or 200 times the pressure at the surface). This would result in any remnants or traces of toxic materials on the vessel being squeezed out like ketchup from a bottle, given the pressure at such depths. This is why both the materials on the vessel and location are so critical to understand the potential impact on the marine environment.
Two days after the sinking of the forward section of the Wakashio, 18 dolphins and whales washed up dead on the shores of Mauritius on Wednesday 26 August 2020. By Friday 29 August, 39 dolphins and Melon-headed whales had died and video taken by local journalists around the lagoons of Mauritius revealed that many more dolphins and whales were clearly distressed. The mammal autopsy results have not yet been publicly released.
28 August 2020: video shot by local journalist Reuben Pillay reveal many dolphins and whales suffering in the Bays of Mauritius, including pregnant whales and juveniles who stay along the Mauritian coast at this time of year to give birth
28 August 2020: video shot by local journalist Reuben Pillay reveal many dolphins and whales ... [+] VIDEO: REUBEN PILLAY
As thousands of citizens of Mauritius marched in protest on Saturday demanding greater transparency and accountability over the handling of the Wakashio grounding, oil spill and salvage operation, questions are also being asked about the decision to sink the Wakashio, when weather conditions at the time of the sinking reveal calm oceans and clear skies.
As organizations like Greenpeace also question the legality of the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio, there are three important questions to ask:
What international laws could have been broken?
Which courts would have jurisdiction?
Who was responsible?
Let’s look at each in turn.
Regulations governing dumping of vessels at sea
The main body of law governing pollution at sea is called Marpol (short for Maritime Pollution), and is a body of law that was adopted by the UN shipping regulator, London-based International Maritime Organization. These laws were adopted in 1979 in response to environmental pressure due to the widespread practice of dumping waste in the ocean at that time.
There are six main chapters within this body of law covering different aspect of pollution from shipping (e.g., oil pollution, chemical pollution, sewage, cargo, air pollution). Annex 5 - which came into force in 1988 - deals with pollution associated with garbage, which dumping a vessel and any materials on board would constitute.
The UN Agency responsible for global shipping and maritime pollution is London-based International Maritime Organisation (the IMO).
The UN Agency responsible for global shipping and maritime pollution is London-based International ... [+] PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
In addition, there are several separate bodies of law under the IMO, as well as agreements under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, that may need to be looked at with a vessel situation as complex as the Wakashio. This includes individual bodies of law that govern Ballast Water Pollution, Regulations on Anti-fouling Materials used on vessel hulls, and guidance on the Environmentally Sound Recycling of Vessels.
In short, there are many well documented international laws and norms governing the deliberate sinking of any vessel that could have been violated.
There are reasons these laws have been developed, and very clear guidance and protocols that need to be followed for any decision to scuttle a vessel, that has not been inventoried and cleaned. Let’s look at some of the main risks.
1. Ballast Water and risk of invasive species
Scuba diver spears an invasive lionfish
A scuba diver has shot an lion fish in an attempt to control this invasive species spread across the ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Ballast water is one of the biggest risks to life in the ocean. This is the water used to stabilize vessels. It is critical to the operation of any vessel that varies the load it is carrying, but as vessels have become larger, the risks that ballast water entails have increased, posing serious ecological, economic and health risks due to the multitude of marine species carried in ships’ ballast water.
Ballast water – which is often filled from one location and transported to another somewhere else in the world – is often full of bacteria, microbes, small invertebrates, eggs, cysts and larvae of various species that are not native to the location the vessel is travelling to.
There are much stricter international laws concerning the uptake and disposal of ballast water that could be harmful for the marine environment around the world if it is not filtered for invasive species, many of which could be microscopic to the human eye.
Since 2017, new international laws entered force concerning the uptake and disposal of ballast water ... [+] GETTY
The transferred species may survive to establish a reproductive population in the host environment, becoming invasive, out-competing native species and multiplying into pest proportions or causing marine disease. Harm caused by ocean-born invasive species include cholera, water flea, toxic algae.
The spread of invasive species is now recognized as one of the greatest threats to the ecological, and the economic well-being of the planet. These species are causing enormous damage to biodiversity. Direct and indirect health effects are becoming increasingly serious and the damage to the environment is often irreversible.
A new international treaty to govern the safe use of ballast water came into force in 2017, called the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM).
Journalists have approached the owner of the Wakashio, Nagashiki Shipping, for details of the volume of ballast water being carried by the Wakashio at the time of the grounding, details of the operation to pump any water from the vessel prior to scuttling, details of where the ballast water had already been collected from to assess any marine disease risk, as well as details for how any ballast water collected from the Wakashio was safely disposed of. There has not yet been a response, when much of this information should be available at a click of the button and is required to be carried by the vessel as per the 2017 laws.
2. Industrial cargo residue
21 August 2020: reddish water from residue sediment can clearly be seen in the hold of the Wakashio, in footage shot by officials on 21 August as the Wakashio was getting prepared to be scuttled.
21 August 2020: reddish water from residue sediment can clearly be seen in the hold of the Wakashio, ... [+] MAURITIUS BROADCASTING CORPORATION
The residue of industrial cargo could contain harmful toxins, given the pressures at which the vessels are being sunk. There are strict regulations to inventory and disclose the materials on board the vessel. Annually, for the over 9.5 billion tons of bulk cargo goods transported across the ocean, over 2 million tons enter the oceans, with 100,000 tons being potentially harmful to the marine environment, according to the IMO.
As could be seen from video released of the operation to flood the hold of the Wakashio starting 21 August, there was clearly cargo residue on the vessel that turned the water a murky color. While the vessel was an iron-ore bulk carrier, it was not clear whether toxicology tests had been taken of this residue.
Residue from iron ore has been a particular focus of several organizations. There are IMO guidelines on the implementation of Marpol Annex V, including the adoption of OECD standards needed to conduct such tests. Failing to conduct these tests at OECD standards could put the vessel in violation of the complex P&I rules that govern the vessel insurance.
3. Recycling of ships
Chemicals and heavy metals leach from a large vessel being dismantled at Pakistan's Geddani ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
There are strict rules to prevent the discarding of vessels in the ocean (just like abandoning a car in a forest is banned), there are strong measures to encourage the circular economy and recycling of all parts of a ship including the three aspects of the vessel to look at: materials contained in ship structure or equipment, waste from vessel operations, waste from the stores. These categories of waste are well defined and there is a five step process to ensure the appropriate procedures have been followed, namely: 1. collection of the necessary information, 2. assessment of collected information, 3. preparation of visual or sampling check plan, 4. onboard visual check and sampling check, 5. preparation of inventory documentation and related documentation. These are clearly defined responsibilities of the shipowner.
Checking the materials used in the vessel construction should be based on the Material Declaration given by the suppliers in the shipbuilding supply chain (e.g. equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, material suppliers).
With a strong focus on environmental sustainability around the world, after several high profile stories about the end of life of vessels, the shipping industry has recently been moving toward the circular economy and recycling of materials. With a vessel the size of the Wakashio – in the top 1% of all vessel in the world - there were sizable quantities of various materials that could have been reused.
Ship breaking laborers working at Sitakundo ship breaking...
Laborers breaking on an iron ore vessel - similar to the Wakashio - at a shipyard in Bangladesh. ... [+] LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
One of the other risks of sinking a vessel without fully understanding all the components that went into the construction of the vessel is the risk over many decades as the outer layers start to disintegrate. In the tropical reefs of the Pacific Ocean just South of Hawaii, many wrecks had to be removed at significant cost decades after being sunk due to the contamination caused to local marine habitats.
Those were vessels one-tenth the size of the Wakashio, and there has still been no public release of this information from local authorities or the owners of the Wakashio, even though this information should have been available at a click of a button from the shipbuilder, Universal Shipping of Kawasaki in Japan.
After four years of work, in May 2009, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted the Hong Kong Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. There are clear guidelines on the protocols that must be followed in the disposal of any vessel at sea, including clear inventories of all environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances and others.
4. Harmful anti-fouling systems
Large amounts of anti-fouling paint is required for large vessels to prevent the build up of living ... [+] VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES
Anti-fouling systems are systems (usually paints but other physical techniques can be used as well) that prevent the growth of algae and barnacles on the underside of vessels. Such growth slows the vessel and makes transportation a lot more fuel intensive.
However, the side effect of anti-fouling systems is that they use several toxic chemicals. As these chemicals break up in the marine environment over time, they can cause additional harm. Examples include harmful organotin compounds in anti-fouling paints used on ships. In July 2017 controls on cybutryne were also restricted in anti-fouling paints when the IMO revealed that scientific data presented indicated that cybutryne causes significant adverse effects to the marine environment.
There is an entire body of law that governs the use and disposal of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships. This is called the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, and was adopted on 5 October 2001, coming into force on 17 September 2008, and governed by the IMO.
These are just some of the strict environmental laws designed to protect life in the ocean, as the ocean faces unprecedented pressures of climate change, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction, amid fears of a large ocean deoxygenation event occurring.
Which international court?
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rules on cases covering laws of the sea. Seen ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Although the IMO is the body responsible for setting the standards of these laws, there are several other international courts that make judgements against whether such laws have been broken.
An important court of jurisdiction in this case is the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which has several examples of cases of maritime pollution brought there.
There may also be many provisions in domestic law that had been violated with the decision to deliberately sink the Wakashio in the location decided upon, without following many of the well defined procedures that had been designed to protect the environment.
Who is responsible?
August 16, 2020, shows the MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and broke into two parts ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The responsibility of the decision to sink the Wakashio will be the subject of strong scrutiny. There are at least eight parties known to be involved with the Wakashio in the run up to the decision to sink the vessel.
a) Government of Mauritius
Mauritius's Minister of Environment, Kavydass Ramano speaks at a press conference on the Wakashio, ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Government of Mauritius had an important role to play. In a statement issued by Nagashiki Shipping to Forbes on 25 August, Nagashiki Shipping was very clear under whose guidance they had been operating.
“At approximately 0030 hrs, local time on Aug 19, the forward section of the hull was successfully re-floated and towed offshore to an area designated by the authorities. After that, they moved to the sea area designated by the Mauritius authorities to sink the hull and started work at 2100 hrs, local time, Aug 21. At 1500 hrs, local time, Aug 24, the front part of the hull was submerged and allowed to sink in the designated sea area of Mauritian territorial waters, in accordance with the instructions of the authorities.”
A level of detail within the Government may extend to which Department or Ministry may have been responsible and what was the legal basis of any decision (e.g., a collective Cabinet decision).
In addition, the monitoring, compliance and enforcement of MARPOL falls to Governments. IMO has been given a role to carry out audits of Member States since 2016.
b) The flag state, Panama
The Wakashio was flagged in Panama, which has responsibilities to ensure compliance to Marpol. The ... [+] GETTY
As the vessel was Panama-flagged there are clear responsibilities for flag states that are set out by the IMO. Flag States (the State of registry of a ship) and port States have rights and responsibilities to enforce compliance.
Questions will be raised around the role of Panama Maritime Authority in its role in monitoring and enforcing compliance of Marpol, given that the Wakashio fell under its jurisdiction.
c) France
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu wears a protective mouth and nose mask as he attends a ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Following the visit of French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornuu on 17 August, the Government of Mauritius issued a press release on 19 August 2020, in which they revealed, “The scuttling position and conditions are in conformity with the advice of the French experts present in Mauritius.”
It was unclear whether these were the experts brought in by the Government of France or French representatives of the cleanup companies. Questions will now be asked about the documentation and role of the French experts brought in by the Government to influence such a decision to sink the Wakashio when other more sustainable options were available.
d) Malta
The two supporting vessels, Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, were flagged to Malta. View of ... [+] GETTY
In a statement on 19 August, Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace Japan revealed that the two support vessels behind the towing operations, Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, were Malta-flagged. This meant that as Malta was party to Marpol regulations, these vessels would also be subject to this law too.
In an open letter to the authorities of Malta on 25 August, Greenpeace made inquiries into what actions Malta was now taking to look into the decision to deliberately sink the Wakashio and whether these Marpol regulations had been violated. No response has yet been received.
e) Japan
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is one of the world's largest shipping companies. It is a Japanese transport ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Wakashio was a vessel built in Japan, owned by a major Japanese shipping company and operated by a Japanese shipping line. It had never been to Panama.
The Japanese Government has sent six experts to Mauritius since 19 August. It was unclear what their roles and responsibilities had been toward the salvage operation, decision to sink the Wakashio and potential impact on the marine environment.
g) The IMO
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion climate action group protest outside the International ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The UN global shipping regulator, the IMO was established to adopt legislation and Governments are responsible for implementing them.
When a Government accepts an IMO Convention it agrees to make it part of its national law and to enforce all of the provisions contained therein. There are clear demarcations of the responsibilities and functions of the IMO and the functions of States.
Some of the IMO’s conventions have been criticized as being too weak, and this could open up greater criticism of IMO standards if the sinking of the Wakashio was permitted under IMO regulations.
However, in the case of Mauritius and the decision to sink the Wakashio, the issue is more nuanced. An IMO specialist had been deployed by the IMO to advise the Government of Mauritius specifically on any operations related to the leaking oil. His mandate – agreed between the IMO and the Government of Mauritius, and confirmed by a spokesperson at the IMO – did not extend to advising the Government of Mauritius on any aspect of the salvage operation that did not involve the oil spill.
Despite repeated questions to the IMO on the specific role and advice provided by the IMO representative on the ground with relation to the decision to sink the Wakashio, no answer has been forthcoming, raising questions whether the IMO itself could be liable for influencing the decision to sink the Wakashio against laws and standards that the organization is supposed to have set.
f) Shipowner and operator: Nagashiki Shipping and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
August 18, 2020: Captain of the MV Wakashio bulk carrier, Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar (L), leaves from a ... [+] L'EXPRESS MAURICE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Amid all of the Government interventions, the Wakashio was a privately owned and operated vessel by a large Japanese corporation. It was owned by Japan based Nagashiki Shipping and was being operated by one of the world’s largest shipping companies, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines that earned $12 billion revenue last year.
There are clear laws and rules that the owner and operator of the vessel have to abide by.
Despite several very straight forward questions asked by journalists at the outset, no answer has been received from Nagashiki Shipping on any of the information that could have a material impact on the health of the marine environment (such as amount of ballast water that was on the vessel at the time of sinking, and the origins of this ballast water).
In the year 2020 when advanced data science, cloud computing, machine learning and satellite technologies are available at the click of a button, the urgency of having this information is critical to a safe cleanup of all the pollution caused by the Wakashio. Delays in getting this information to the relevant parties impacted by this tragedy is not just a legal issue, but a moral one too.
h) Array of contractors engaged in the salvage operation
August 15, 2020: a range of support vessels and international consultants had been brought in to ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
In a series of Government press releases, it was revealed that the overall salvage operation was being supervised by SMIT Salvage. The pollution cleanup efforts were being advised by Polyeco and Le Floch Depollution. The oil industry response group ITOPF was also involved.
This is a confusing array of specialists in an island nation that has never experienced a major oil spill before. As the world has demanded greater transparency of advice and recommendations, ordinary citizen of Mauritius have been surprised that 36 days after the grounding of the vessel, there has not been a single press conference or information release by any of these anonymous specialists.
If the clean up operations had been going smoothly, perhaps there would not need to be such scrutiny. But with 39 dead whales and dolphins (as of the last official count on Friday 28 August), important questions are now being asked on the liability of organizations who had provided such advice supporting the sinking of a vessel that could have been in violation of international law.
A case of ‘Who Did It’
29 August 2020: protestors are demanding answers for how a shipping incident could have led to such catastrophic consequences where ordinary islanders have been forced to clean up a major industrial pollution event
29 August 2020: protestors are demanding answers for how a shipping incident could have led to such ... [+] PHOTO: ARVIND MATTADEEN
As the mystery surrounding the Wakashio deepens, so too does the complex web of legal cases on every aspect of the operation.
The decision to sink the Wakashio was a controversial one. It was done in full light of media scrutiny at a time when the public was demanding answers. The lack of answers from 8 individual sets of actors over these decisions, has raised alarm bells internationally, as shown by protests not just in Mauritius – but in front of embassies around the world.
Understanding and publishing the basic factual information about the ship inventory, ballast water, toxic materials, location of the sinking should not be a game of ‘cat and mouse,’ where one needs the skills of Agatha Chirstie’s famous detective, Hercule Poirot to figure out ‘who did it’ and where.
In addition to the legal aspects of the case, there are now moral questions being asked about the global shipping industry, and how such a global industry could have been allowed to operate in such opaqueness for so long, impacting the lives of so many of the world’s poorest populations.
There are 39 dead whales and dolphins on Mauritius’ beaches, thousands of villagers who depend on the ocean remain in the dark, and it’s been 36 days since the grounding of the Wakashio. The current approach of secrecy has clearly not worked - either for the sinking of the Wakashio or any other aspect of the rehabilitation - and has triggered a political crisis.
Regardless of legal outcomes, it is clear that this is also a crisis of the global shipping industry’s own making.
47 Whales Now Confirmed Dead In Mauritius Amid International Condemnation Of Global Shipping
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/31/international-condemnation-of-global-shipping-grows-as-47-whales-confirmed-dead-in-mauritius
Aug 31, 2020,06:41pm EDT|3.021 views
Nishan Degnarain
I cover innovation within the green/blue industrial revolution.
On Monday, it was revealed that 47 whales have been found dead along the South East coast of Mauritius, including pregnant females and juveniles. The numbers continue to rise each day, around the crash site and sinking of the forward section of the Wakashio.
This come amid the extreme secrecy of the operation to salvage the rear of the vessel, disposal of the removed oil and clean up the oil along the coast. The lack of transparency about the methods being used for the cleanup is raising additional concerns about any longer term risk with the use of chemical dispersants. Comparisons are now being drawn between the cleanup in Mauritius and the hushed-up oil spill and cleanup operation in Venezuela earlier this month in its famous Morrocoy National Reserve.
Already, there were concerns about the controversial decision to deliberately sink the forward section of the Wakashio in an undisclosed location off the coast of Mauritius. Two days later, scores of dead dolphins and whales started drifting dead onto the shores of Mauritius.
Concerns about Wakashio salvage operation
29 August 2020: over 100,000 demonstrators on the streets of Mauritius capital city, Port Louis, protesting at the deaths of large numbers of marine mammals following major oil spill
This follows major demonstrations at the weekend in Mauritius and around its embassies around the world at the weekend, that attracted over 100,000 marchers (around 10% of the country) according to a report in the UK’s Independent newspaper. The protesters had marched peacefully on the streets of the capital, demanding justice and accountability for the environmental impact of the pollution, including the dead whales and dolphins.
This comes as international ocean NGO, Sea Shepherd revealed there was over 203,000 tons of ballast water on board the vessel when it hit the reefs of Mauritius (200 times the amount of oil leaked). Given concerns and international laws created in recent years to stop the harmful spread of marine disease through the release of ballast water, it is unclear whether this ballast water was safely removed from the vessel. Ship owner, Nagahsiki Shipping have not responded to media requests for comments.
At the same time, it is also being reported locally that the salvage team may have used seismic blasting in the sensitive areas around the Mauritian coast as part of the salvage operation. This is an area famed for its whale nursing sites, and several pregnant female Melon-headed whales and juveniles have already been found washed up in the past few days. If it is true that such seismic blasting had been undertaken, serious questions will need to be asked under whose authority such tests were conducted, and whether a thorough environmental impact assessment had been done of the area prior to the test, when there are dozens of luxury Five Star Hotels along Mauritius’ East Coast that offer tourists Dolphin and Whale Watching tours in the area.
International NGO criticism of global shipping
Work underway to remove capsized Delfi bunker tanker out of Black Sea in Odessa
26 AUGUST 2020: The Transship company carries out work to remove the capsized Delfi bunker tanker ... [+] KONSTANTIN SAZONCHIK/TASS
The international NGO community have also started to raise serious questions about the role of the global shipping industry in this incident. In a statement to Forbes, global ocean protection NGO, Ocean Conservancy has called for a full and independent investigation into the whale and dolphin deaths in Mauritius.
Chris Robbins, head of Science Initiatives at Ocean Conservancy and who worked for a decade on oil spill response and ecosystem restoration after the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy highlighted the risk to dolphins in particular following a major oil spill.
“Marine mammals like dolphins were among the most severely impacted marine species affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and recovery is estimated to take decades. Marine mammals are exposed to toxins in oil through inhalation, ingestion, aspiration and skin absorption, resulting in immediate death or sub-lethal effects such as lung disease, damage to the immune system and reproductive failure.
Right at the outset, Ocean Conservancy recognized that long-term monitoring is essential to tracking the recovery of impacted species such as marine mammal populations, as well as the broader marine ecosystem. Dolphins are long-lived and, as we saw in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the health effects of the spill could ripple throughout local dolphin populations for years to come.”
De-carbonizing the international shipping fleet
Ocean Conservancy has also gone on to call for bold shipping reform, echoing calls from other international environmental groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and Sea Shepherd for the same, citing the heavy engine fuel used as one of the main reasons this disaster was so extensive.
“In the ongoing uncertainty about science being used to assess the impact of the oil spill in Mauritius, one thing is crystal clear: we need to transition rapidly from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This includes, as a priority, de-carbonizing the international shipping fleet.
We estimate that full de-carbonization must occur by 2034 to remain within the 1.5 Celsius target set by the Paris Agreement. Accordingly, that will entail replacing all HFO (Heavy Fuel Oil) burning ships with cleaner green fuels like hydrogen or ammonia, which will also dramatically reduce the risk of a spill affecting marine mammals.
Japan and the Japanese based Nagashiki Shipping, owners of the MV Wakashio, have a key role to play in all of this. As one of the largest shipbuilding nations along with China and the Republic of Korea, Japan can set the standards to prevent the next Wakashio, and publicly commit to accelerating the IMO’s international timeline for full decarbonization. This spill should be a wakeup call for all shipbuilding nations.”
This statement from Ocean Conservancy, echoes WWF’s call for justice for the ocean including calls to reform of the ‘flags of convenience’ regime, a system that many have argued for years has allowed ship owners to behave with impunity on the world’s oceans. A range of legal and financial instruments have been highlighted by WWF for how a country like Mauritius can attempt to restore this unique ecosystem, based on other lessons from the Western Indian Ocean.
Ocean Conservancy’s Chris Robbins went further and cautioned about many of the secondary effects of an oil spill clean up operation that he had learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy, that ended up causing even more harm.
He listed these in an article on the Ocean Conservancy site where he listed a five-point plan, for how Mauritius should think about its response to the Wakashio oil spill.
“There are some lessons from the Gulf of Mexico after the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy that can be applied to the unfolding tragedy in Mauritius on how to respond to the spill from the standpoint of response, clean up, documenting damage, holding the responsible party accountable and building a long-term restoration plan.”
So far, there has been no additional comments from either the vessel owner, Nagashiki Shipping company, or the multi-billion dollar ship operator that had leased the vessel, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, on the deaths of the dolphins or whales.
Notably, there has also not been a public statement on the oil spill from several other major UN or other ocean protection organizations, 37 days into this major ecological crisis.
Come fu salvato il piccione rosa di Mauritius:
www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/how-did-pink-pigeon-bounce-back-just-nine-birds
15 Feb 2019
How did the Pink Pigeon bounce back from just nine birds?
The Pink Pigeon is no longer Endangered. But how did conservationists achieve this, and is it sustainable? Dr Vikash Tatayah, Conservation Director, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (BirdLife Partner) reports from the field…There are now 473 Pink Pigeons in the wild © Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
By Vikash TatayahLast year, one of Mauritius’ best-loved birds hit a milestone that delighted the conservation world. In the 2018 Red List update, the Pink Pigeon Nesoenas mayeri was downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable, building upon the success of 2000, when it was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered. But behind the scenes of this happy news lies over 30 years of gruelling devotion, with conservationists tackling the numerous threats to the pigeon from every possible angle in their bid to bring it back from the brink.
For a while, we were worried it might go the same way as its fellow Mauritian endemic, the Dodo Raphus cucullatus. An even closer relative, the Reunion Pigeon Nesoenas duboisi, went extinct on the neighbouring Reunion Island in the late 18th century thanks to introduced cats and rats. The Pink Pigeon now holds the unenviable title of the last native pigeon in the whole Mascarene archipelago.
Predictably, it was the arrival of humans that heralded the Pink Pigeon’s decline. The species was once widely distributed across Mauritius, but by the 19th century its population had become extremely fragmented and confined to the upland forests. Humans had destroyed native vegetation to the extent that only 1.5% of the original, good-quality forest remained. They also hunted the plump bird and introduced a panoply of predators such as Black Rat Rattus rattus, Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus and Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicularis.
It wasn’t just animal predators: what little forest remained was soon invaded by non-native plants such as Chinese Guava Psidium cattleianum and the privet species Ligustrum robustum which choke vegetation, preventing the regeneration of native plants. By the mid-1970s, the species had plummeted to a single population of 20 birds in the upland forest of Black River Gorges, an area now known as Pigeon Wood. Just 12 Pink Pigeons remained in 1986, and of the five nesting attempts recorded that year, all were thwarted by rats. The wild population hit an all-time low of nine birds in 1990. The chances for long-term survival of the species looked bleak.
But the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation wasn’t going to let it go without a fight. With help from organisations across the world [see With Thanks, below], we set up an intensive conservation programme starting with captive breeding set up in 1976, followed by the first wild releases in 1987. We now have nine subpopulations centred around our field stations. Six of these are within the Black River Gorges National Park, close to the original Pigeon Wood. A sub-population can be found on the predator-free nature reserve island Ile aux Aigrettes, and two additional subpopulations are being created on private land at Ferney on the east of Mauritius and in Chamarel Ebony Forest in the south west. The purpose of these captive-reared birds is to bolster wild populations, and we encourage the dispersal of birds between the different areas in order to maintain genetic diversity. In total we now have 470 wild Pink Pigeons at these sites, a dramatic improvement compared to the species’ darkest hour.
But captive-breeding won’t help unless the wild habitat is made safe for these newcomers. That’s why wild populations are carefully managed using a three-pronged technique. Firstly, every Pink Pigeon is ringed with its own metal ID band and unique plastic colour combination. Each bird can therefore be identified and followed individually. All nests are checked regularly and the results documented. A large dataset has now been collected and continues to grow. This precise information helps us to understand in more depth the factors affecting the survival of the Pink Pigeon, and how to shape our management strategies accordingly.
Another priority is food. The Pink Pigeon is herbivorous, feeding mainly on fruit, leaves and flowers. But its natural habitat is so degraded that the birds are often unable to find enough food to support themselves. In order to supplement their diet, whole wheat and cracked maize is provided at each of the field sites. The food is placed on specially-designed platforms to prevent other species from obtaining it.
Introduced predators are, without a doubt, a major limiting factor to the survival of this species. Much energy is devoted to removing or controlling them from around the field sites. We are also researching and tackling diseases, in particular trichomonosis, an illness introduced by alien pigeons that can be especially fatal to Pink Pigeon chicks.
In the long term, large areas of forest will need to be restored so that the Pink Pigeon can spread into the uplands and breed in safe nesting sites with fewer predators. But for now, we are working on reinforcing numbers at the recently-created release sites. In order to increase genetic diversity, birds from captive populations in Europe will be repatriated to Mauritius. Research has shown that these birds have genetic variations no longer found in the wild population.
We are constantly seeking to improve our knowledge of the Pink Pigeon’s biology and behaviour, conducting studies into factors limiting the recovery of this species. We have examined the fruiting and flowering of plants that the pigeons feed on which, combined with feeding observations, will enable us to tailor our supplementary feeding more precisely. Ultimately, we have high hopes that all of these measures should enable us to meet our target of 600 wild Pink Pigeons in the next decade.
The future looks bright for other species, too. When working out how to save the Pink Pigeon, some techniques were inspired by previous pigeon rearing projects, but others have been perfected or developed on Mauritius. We can now pass these new techniques on to the rest of the world to help others restore threatened pigeons worldwide. Hundreds of field biologists trained in our methods have gone on to work in important conservation positions elsewhere. They now have the ability to disseminate what they learned globally, ensuring the Pink Pigeon’s success can spread beyond Mauritius’ borders.
Anche il Brasile ha avuto il suo disastro:
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50268527
Brazil oil spill: Greek-flagged tanker believed to be source
2 November 2019
Brazilian officials suspect a Greek-flagged tanker was the source of an oil spill that has stained about 2,500km (1,553 miles) of Brazil's coastline.
Federal police in the city of Rio de Janeiro raided the offices of Delta Tankers Ltd last week.
Delta Tankers told AFP they did not accept blame for the spill and the tanker's voyage ended "uneventfully".
Marine life and popular beaches in a number of north-eastern Brazilian states have been affected by the spill.
The tanker alleged to have caused the spill, the Bouboulina, was carrying heavy crude oil from Venezuela to Malaysia in July.
But Delta Tankers said the Bouboulina "completed her voyage uneventfully, without having experienced any fuel shortage".
"There is no proof of the vessel having stopped, conducted any kind of STS (Ship to Ship) operation, leaked, slowed down or veered off course on its passage from Venezuela to Melaka, Malaysia," the company said in a statement.
About 2,000 tonnes of thick sludge have been collected, but a huge clean-up effort is continuing.
Concerns are growing that the oil spill could reach the Abrolhos islands, an important marine sanctuary.
La Exxon Valdez raccontata dal Time:
time.com/3748246/exxon-valdez-history/
BY JENNIFER LATSON
MARCH 24, 2015 10:30 AM EDTIt was the worst man-made environmental catastrophe in U.S. history — that is, until five years ago, when it was eclipsed by a disaster roughly 20 times its scope. On this day, March 24, in 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and spewed an estimated 11 million gallons of oil into pristine arctic waters. Only the 2010 drilling-rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was worse; then, over the course of 87 days, more than 200 millions of crude oil gushed into the Gulf.
Twenty-six years ago, however, it was hard to picture a more destructive oil spill than the one in Prince William Sound. The oil slick fanned out as far as 500 miles from the tanker’s crash site and oozed along 1,300 mi. of shoreline. Tarred, feathered sandpipers and oil-coated otters featured in devastating nightly news footage. Salmon and eagle populations were decimated. Thousands of seals and a quarter of a million shorebirds died, per TIME. And despite a massive, multi-year cleanup effort that cost Exxon billions of dollars, the region is still suffering.
While the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico teem with bacteria that have helped break down some of the crude unleashed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout, the icy waters of Prince William Sound inhibit decay, and oil patches that can be traced back to the Valdez still linger on remote beaches, just below the sand.
“The oil may not leak out in quantities that are immediately visible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there,” one scientist told TIME in 2009, when random tests along the shoreline revealed that an estimated 20,000 gallons of oil remained. “We thought the cleanup would be a one-shot deal — but it’s still lingering.”
As of the spill’s 25th anniversary last year, only 13 of 32 affected wildlife populations and habitats monitored by the government since the spill were listed as “fully recovered” or “very likely recovered,” according to CNN. Some were listed as “not recovering,” including the herring population, once the source of a booming fishery, and a pod of killer whales that lost 15 of its 22 members after the spill and is expected to die off completely in the coming years.
While the lessons learned in the Alaskan cleanup may have led to a better response to the spill in the Gulf, the most enduring lesson is that maritime oil spills are devastating even with the best possible response.
“Whether it’s Prince William Sound or the Gulf of Mexico, seldom is more than 10 percent of the spilled oil recovered,” Alaskan writer Marybeth Holleman concluded in a CNN opinion piece. “This will be especially true in Arctic waters. And regardless of how safe we make oil drilling, tankers, or pipelines, we’ll never reduce spill risk to zero.”
Anche in Yemen e nel Mar Rosso in generale?
Why 150 Million People In Six Red Sea Countries Should Be Watching Mauritius’ Oil Spill Response
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/24/why-150-million-people-in-six-red-sea-countries-should-be-watching-mauritius-oil-spill-response/
Aug 24, 2020,10:17pm EDT|6.484 views
Nishan Degnarain
16 July 2020: In an assessment by UK's DFID, the impact of the oil pollution and associated air pollution can be seen along the entire Red Sea
150 million people live in six countries along the Red Sea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan Eritrea. The Red Sea coastline contains some of the regions most important population centers with Jeddah (4 million in Saudi Arabia), Port Sudan, tourist hotspots of Hurgada and Safarga, as well as the fast growing coastal cities of Djibouti, Massawa, Al Hodeidah, Eilat and Aqaba.
This region has some of the most unspoilt and richest coral reef ecosystems in the world, that have stayed relatively resilient from the climate crisis.
However, since July, concerns have been elevated that the entire Red Sea region is facing one of the world’s biggest environmental crisis: an oil spill of a magnitude never before seen in such a biodiversity sensitive area. Add in a world paralyzed with a coronavirus pandemic, and we have the perfect storm for a major humanitarian crisis that will play out in front of the world’s media.
Massive Yemen Oil Tanker: abandoned and ready to blow
FSO SAFER TANKER -- JUNE 17, 2020: Maxar Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored off Ras Issa port, in Yemen, on June 17, 2020.
JUNE 17, 2020: Maxar Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored off Ras Issa port, in Yemen,. DIGITALGLOBE/GETTY IMAGES
A massive oil tanker containing 1.14 million barrels of crude oil has been sitting in storage off the coast of Ras Issa Port, off the coast of Yemen. Because of the ongoing civil war conflict between the Houthis and Government forces in Yemen, the tanker has spent a prolonged period at sea. The 45 year old ironically named, The FSO Safer, is moored at sea 37 miles North of the rebel-held port of Hudaydah.
How Satellites Tracked The Fateful Journey Of The Ship That Led To Mauritius’ Worst Oil Spill Disaster
International Cover Up Fear As Panama Drawn Into Wakashio Oil Spill Ship Controversy In Mauritius
Dramatic Photos Show Wakashio Being Deliberately Sunk As Mystery Continues Over Final Location
There are now growing fears that the vessel could sink or explode - following water entering the tanker’s engine room. The rusting pipes and engine room that hasn’t been maintained for over five years, pose a particular hazard, as seen in dramatic footage taken last year.
If this was to happen, it would put the entire Red Sea, including one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes at risk of a major ecological catastrophe, the likes of which the world has never seen (most major oil spills have tended to be in lower population, remote locations).
Crude vs Bunker Fuel Oil Spills
By way of comparison, the Wakashio was carrying just over 1 million gallons of heavy engine fuel oil when it crashed into Mauritius. It is not clear how much of this 1 million gallons spilled into the Indian Ocean, but the devastation could be seen and measured on the ground. TheSafer oil tanker contains almost 50 times more oil (47.9 million gallons), although it is crude oil spill so has a different sort of effect and cannot be compared to bunker fuel spills as seen in Mauritius.
Being in the saltier and warmer Red Sea environment over such fragile coral ecosystems, and some heavily dense population centers where the population could experience both the impact of crude oil in water supplies, food supply, as well as the associated oil pollution, could catalyze a major ecological and humanitarian disaster punctuated with a food, water and health crisis. Over half the people in the region are currently dependent on some form of international aid. UN experts estimate the impact on marine life would be devastating with hundreds of species of sea turtles, sharks, rays and seabirds now at risk in addition to the pristine coral reefs.
The UN Security Council met recently to discuss ways to intervene in the situation, and expressed their deep concern at the “growing risk that the Safer oil tanker could rupture or explode causing an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe for Yemen and its neighbours."
One of the big delays hampering an intervention has been a discussion around who would receive the proceeds from the sale of the oil, estimated at $40m (which is half of what it was worth before oil prices slumped recently).
Such is the gravity of the situation that the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, as well as the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres, have called for a ceasefire among rebel and Government forces so an international team could get in to stabilize the tanker and safely remove the oil.
The ceasefire has not happened after five years of more intense fighting in an ongoing civil war since Houthi rebels took over the Yemen capital, Sanaa in 2015.
In an assessment by the UK Department for International Development, they released a map that highlighted the extent of the spill and associated air pollution. This would set back the region for decades in terms of the impact of such hydrocarbons on the sandy beaches surrounding the Red Sea.
Potential impact of oil spill and air pollution could impact one of the most important water ways and enclosed straits in the world
Lessons from Mauritius Response
If the countries around the Red Sea are complacent about the risk, they need only look at what is happening 2500 miles South in Mauritius. Calls for an independent international inquiry is growing in Mauritius amid widespread discontent on how the oil spill has been handled by both the shipping company as well as the Government and an army of international advisers who have bypassed the locally organized civil society efforts that have been on the front lines of the response.
Here are ten lessons that Governments around the Red Sea region should take away from how Mauritius’ handled the oil spill response, and what could be done differently.
1. Preparation
In a document presented at a UN Conference in March 2020 entitled ‘National Oil Spill Preparedness: Status for Mauritius,’ the full preparedness of Mauritius for a major oil spill could be seen. Governments from the Red Sea region should ensure their plans are up to date, and that they have all the equipment, oil protection booms, processes, documentation, legislation, regulations in place and up to date in the case of a disaster. This may also include any legislation or regulations that need to be updated on which vessels are allowed to travel in the waters around the Red Sea and the complex rules on oil spill compensation.
2. Practice now
When the oil spill hit, there was a ‘fog of war’ situation on the ground. What started as a shipping incident, quickly escalated into a major ecological crisis and now a major political crisis as the biggest ever protests in the country since independence is being organized for this weekend. The Wakashio was grounded on the coral reefs of Mauritius for 12 days and the single-hulled vessel dragged for almost 1 km against the jagged edge of the barrier reef before it split and the oil was released. The Government was highly dependent on international advisers sent by the global shipping regulator, the IMO, and salvage companies linked to the shipping company and insurance firms. Mauritians with deep expertise in the area were sidelined, and even when satellite analysis revealed the risk, this was ignored. Countries around the Red Sea region should run regular drills with various scenarios, so that all agencies are aware how to react, and that internal and external communication mechanisms are functioning effectively, and also that critical pieces of information can reach the right decisionmakers at the right time. The practice drills that the UK Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Unit are some of the best in the world.
3. Invest in Technology
The latest satellites using high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar are the front line in any defense against oil spills around the world, as see in this image of Finish Space Company, Iceye's final testing prior to launch of its SAR constellation.
Responding to a major oil spill (especially if a country has never experienced one before), requires understanding a lot of very complex technologies very quickly. These include the various forms of oil protection booms (it can be seen in Mauritius that there are concerns about what oil protection booms were used and how they were deployed around the Wakashio, which will yield important lessons in the accident inquiry), the types of oil spill detection software (there was a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding in the early days of the oil spill with officials pointing to apparently transparent waters and claiming there was no risk. Advanced satellite technologies like Synthetic Aperture Radar reveal the toxic sheen on the surface water of the ocean that is so deadly to marine life. Understanding these types of satellite capabilities and
recognizing, just like purchasing a car, there are a range of satellites that each perform to a different capability and sensitivity in this domain (e.g., in the SAR satellite market a full review of the major participants should be done covering all major providers such as Iceye, Capella Space, Airbus, UN Satellite UNOSAT, European Space Agency). This will help overcome any confusion on the ground on the true extent of the spill. For example, with Mauritius, the more sensitive and accurate Iceye satellites were able to detect the spill in Blue Bay Marine Park and as far as 14 miles North within 5 days of the oil spill at Ile aux Cerfs, whereas the less sensitive UNOSAT and ESA satellites were not.
4. Transparency = Trust
In a national crisis, such as a major oil spill, having a transparency on the extent and nature of the spill from the best experts possible is foundational to any response. Trying to sugar-coat or manipulate data from the spill erodes trust and hampers the effectiveness of the response. This was clear in the Mauritius case study, where efforts to downplay the effects of the spill on the tourism sector, caused even more concern when the true extent of the spill, nature of the spill, impact on marine life (arsenic levels in fish 500% higher), and direction of the spill, has added more confusion to the situation. By not providing that transparency, trust was rapidly eroded and what started as an environmental crisis has now rapidly descended into one of the largest political crisis faced by Mauritius since independence, with large nationwide protests being organized for this weekend. For many Governments around the Red Sea, they have also seen the anger spillover against the Government of Lebanon following the Beirut Port explosion. Transparency will be the foundation to trust and any oil spill response. In Mauritius’ case, the silence of the army of international advisers and international Governments rushing to Mauritius has added to the mistrust not just of Mauritian authorities, but the motivations of various international corporate actors, regulators, and other Government representatives now in the country.
5. Partner with a large volunteer army
What was clear from the Wakashio incident, was as the Government and the oil spill response team was woefully disorganized, ordinary Mauritians had to step up to create homemade oil protection booms from dried sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles to keep these afloat, items of clothing and human hair to absorb the oil. The volunteers had also been going up and down the coast to help with the cleanup. These were local residents, concerned citizens, fishermen, tourism tour boat operators. Rather than supporting such efforts, civil society organizations have complained that their efforts are being undermined by a Government that is embarrassed it has been upstaged by a large volunteer army. Efforts to restrict the volunteer efforts - who have been informed by a wide network of international contacts with experience in managing oil spills - have created more anger among these civil society groups who feel the Government is sabotaging any genuine cleanup operation. Red Sea Governments should learn lessons from this, and find ways to work collaboratively with a much larger set of volunteers than any military and Government response can do alone.
6. Work with - not against - local NGOs
With Mauritius, the response was primarily limited to a Government-first response. There was some limited engagement with the private sector. In fact, it was many of the local NGOs who had been working for decades on environmental rehabilitation that were caught in the front lines, especially the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and EcoSud. These organizations often had the deepest insights and local expertise needed to respond to the various aspects of the complicated oil spill response. In bypassing this local expertise, the oil spill response was doomed from the start. Red Sea Governments should begin assessing which local civil society groups have been working on various issues in the region, so the best and most relevant data and talent can be brought to address the problem and improve the quality of the response. This is not just limited to Government, but also many of the international efforts that appear to be tripping over themselves by not engaging in a systematic and transparent way with local civil society organizations.
7. Proactively engage a sophisticated diaspora
In today’s interconnected world, there are many diaspora members of a country or community. This means there may already be deep expertise for various parts of an oil spill response. In the case of Mauritius, the country had been positioned as ‘the Singapore of Africa’ with a well educated and literate population, with a diaspora who had attended some of the world’s best universities and were world leaders in their field. By not engaging any of the thousands of diaspora who were offering their services to the country, and instead relying on an expensive army of international consultants with no link to the country, this has not just angered local Mauritians but the very influential international diaspora too. This has been compounded by many of the international agencies, foreign Governments and international companies repeating these mistakes. Red Sea countries should recognize that many of the talents needed for a major oil spill response may already exist among its diaspora community, and a mature and proactive approach should be taken to harness the best talent for the region, who have the deepest passions for any long term rehabilitation plan.
8. Establish a central nerve center
In any ‘fog of war’ situation, the early day interventions are critical. There needs to be one source of truth through which decisions are taken, and filtering mechanisms through which those with insights are able to reach such a center. Social media has transformed emergency responses, and the wisdom of the crowd is often used to identify credible sources and data, from those that may be inaccurate. A Central Nerve Center that is on the front line of the incident, and which journalists can view, help build trust, transparency and ensure a response effort is being pursued in a careful and co-ordinated manner, as the situation requires. Today, there are many mobile command posts that can be deployed to such a field situation, and data can be piped in from any sources, so the hardware should not necessarily be the limiting factor. If Red Sea Governments have such mobile command centers, now is the time to be dusting them off, and running dry run rehearsals in case there is a need to rapidly deploy in the event of the tanker failing.
9. Science-led response
What has happened in Mauritius is that the science needed to respond to the crisis has swiftly become politicized. Secretive meetings between Government scientists and representatives of the polluting company has led to the wrong sort of evidence being collected. It has been over 1 month since the Wakashio grounded itself on Mauritius’ pristine coral lagoon, and yet best practice science have described the need to track for non-lethal bio-markers in fish. These can be tested using the many PCR tests the country has from Covid-19 preparation, and would indicate the true extent of the spill. However, the science being used, collection sites, methodologies and results have all been kept highly secretive. In an interconnected world, many of the world’s leading scientists who had offered to help are watching and wondering about the quality of Mauritius’ scientists. Mauritius has a world class Oceanographic Institute and Fisheries Research Center, along with some of Africa’s best universities and private laboratories. By not allowing access to independent scientists to guide the science gathering effort, the credibility of local scientists and the international oil spill response team paid for and sent in by the shipping company, is eroding faith in the science. Red Sea Governments should bear this in mind, as the longer term repercussions are that if countries wish to be seen as having world class and independent scientific collaborations, the transparency with which they conduct their work is critical. As anyone in the scientific world knows, the views of peers - especially international peers - can mean all the difference on academic progression and recognition in the world.
10. Local oversight in any response
Since the start of the crisis on 25 July, one of the loudest complaints has been how ordinary Mauritians have been sidelined in various plans by the international community. Platitudes, such as from the Mauritian Prime Minister that the situation remained under control and that international ‘experts’ were on the scene, has quickly descended into farcical and angry scenes as the single-hull vessel dragged along the coral reef for 12 days, spilt its cargo, then split in two separate sections, and then there was the dumping of the forward section of the Wakashio in a mysterious location where the Government of Mauritius has still not revealed the precise co-ordinates. The army of international consultants who descended on Mauritius with unclear funding paths linked to the shipping company, insurance company and oil response firms, and offering various tools for spill detection, containment and rehabilitation has angered many Mauritians. Such efforts reflect the very worst of Western Aid approaches, epitomized with the 1984 Ethiopia Famine and the immortal lyrics, “Do they know it’s Christmas time [in Africa]” (details of criticism here). A quarter of a century later, the oil industry and international aid community have clearly not learned their lessons. Perhaps they are the ones who may need the aid to survive, amid a global climate crisis and pressure for transparency on an industry that is already looking like a relic of a bygone age.
Local civil society groups around the Red Sea should be aware of such a response, and start preparing a co-ordinated civil society response now, to ensure that any international effort has strong local oversight, that is independent and not just Government driven.
Early interventions count
Amid the challenges of a global coronavirus pandemic, action taken in the early day of such an oil spill crisis could have prevented a bad shipping incident turning into an ecological and human health disaster and now the largest oil clean up along the pristine beaches of the Indian Ocean.
If the six countries around the Red Sea aren’t taking the right steps to prepare now, the much larger scale of 150 million people being affected (rather than than 1.3m of Mauritius), means we are looking at a scale 100x greater and having ecological, macroeconomic and regional political consequences.
As more light is shone on the issues involved with oil spills and their response, calls for big changes - such as those led by Sir Richard Branson - are mounting on the large shipping regulator, the IMO, to begin making those changes
Ma il mare è utile persino contro ... il COVID. No, non è la trama di Mato Grosso, ma ci si avvicina molto.
Will Ocean Seabed Mining Delay The Discovery Of Potential Coronavirus Vaccines?
Mar 16, 2020,02:09pm EDT|8.231 views
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/03/16/will-ocean-seabed-mining-delay-the-discovery-of-potential-coronavirus-vaccines/
Nishan Degnarain
Last week saw the most unprecedented reaction to a global health crisis in modern times. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the US President announced a National Emergency that released $50 billion in federal funding, Italy introduced a national quarantine, over 145 countries (and rising) now have recorded cases, travel restrictions are in place in every country around the world, and the New York Federal Reserve announced a $1.5 trillion intervention to stabilize markets.
Most countries are either in the containment phase of the disease (i.e., test, identify and isolate cases) or the mitigation phase (i.e., delaying the spread and ensuring business continuity measures).
At the same time, the race is now on to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of any second wave of infections later this year.
The speed with which a vaccine is developed depends on many factors (e.g., the success of pre-clinical trials, animal testing phases, human clinical trials, and production scale up). Advances in biological technology (such as gene-editing CRISPR and cell free protein synthesis) is accelerating the time to vaccines and treatment development. However one critical element is still needed. That is the initial step to find the biological clues which lead to the high potential chemical compounds that could reduce the potency of COVID-19.
Many of these high potential chemical compounds come from natural sources, so modern medicine will need to return to the wild to find them.
Solutions from the deep ocean?
Last week among the COVID-19 headlines, David Attenborough made a plea calling for Deep Ocean Seabed Mining to be banned. One of the reasons he cited was the importance of deep water corals and microscopic microbes at the bottom of the ocean.
It turns out, these are extremely valuable for modern medicine, including addressing coronaviruses.
A protein from an ocean seabed algae found among coral reefs was revealed to show activity against another coronavirus known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS. MERS is a close relative of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, and was responsible for an outbreak in the Middle East in 2012 that infected almost 2500 people, leading to over 850 deaths in 27 countries (34% fatality). This marine compound griffithsin was extracted from the red algae Griffithsia that is native to coral reefs around the Canary Islands and identified in 2016 to be a potential inhibitor to the MERS coronavirus.
Diver overlooking a large orange elephant ear sponge (Agelas clathrodes) Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
This is just one of over forty marine compounds that have anti viral properties and are undergoing pre-clinical and clinical trials around the world (such as another coronavirus inhibitor from the ocean sponge axinella corrugata found in the Caribbean). These are all at the early stage of vaccine discovery, but help researchers identify areas of high potential. Having such a library of high potential chemical compounds from nature against coronaviruses, could have greatly accelerated progress for vaccine development ahead of time among the several major companies working on these solutions.
Yet, less than 0.05% of the deep ocean has been visited, photographed or sampled. We are just learning the true potential and value of life in the deep ocean.
Being able to sample marine wildlife is critical to identify more potential targets to address threats such as the coronavirus in the future. Not all will come from the ocean, but natural products will be a crucial part, given that COVID-19 jumped the species barrier to impact humans. Indeed, the WHO has called the Climate Crisis a Health Crisis, and as the ocean warms, the risks to humans rise with more novel diseases and less biology with which to help combat them.
It is important that we are able to catalogue these environments before these ecosystems and their complex biology are lost forever.
Valuable medicines from the deep
Selective pressures - the unique conditions under which lifeforms evolve - are no more extreme than at the bottom of the deep ocean. Life here has evolved to live at extraordinary pressures, temperatures, and chemical environments. This means that deep sea creatures have evolved distinct genes, which encode proteins, which in turn catalyze unusual chemistry or possess other useful properties. These unique marine genetic resources are the product of evolution over timescales and in conditions which humans cannot replicate.
Marine genetic resources are therefore irreplaceable products of nature that play a critical role in modern medicine and industrial processes today. Take a look at any major disease and often the highest potential treatments have their origin in a marine natural product. For example:
A treatment for advanced breast cancer developed by the Japanese Pharmaceutical company Eisai, was derived from the marine sponge natural product called eribulin. The drug - called Halaven - has prolonged numerous lives, generated over $500 million in annual sales since 2015, and is now approved in over 65 countries. Eribulin is found in the marine ‘breadcrumb sponge’ called halichondria, that is prevalent in the North Atlantic, Mediterranen and around New Zealand at a depth of 500m.
The first effective HIV treatment was azidothymidine (better known as AZT). This is a variant of a chemical compound made from a marine sponge in the Caribbean called tectitethya crypta. It generated $4 billion in sales alone and in combination with other anti-HIV drugs, since being approved by the FDA in 1987.
Infectious diseases are increasingly drug-resistant, and medical science is constantly battling to stay ahead. Organisms that cause malaria and tuberculosis can be killed by marine-derived compounds such as cyclomarin. Cyclomarin comes from an ocean bacteria called salinispora arenicola first identified around islands in the Bahamas in 1991.
Coal Regions To Receive Billions In German Aid to transition to clean technology by 2038
In addition to medicine, the biology from the deep ocean is valuable for industrial purposes, especially cleaning up pollution and environmental remediation, which will be critical to restore our planet to a healthy ecosystem.
A recently discovered deep sea microbe in 2014 from 2km depth in the Indian Ocean, nesiotobacter exalbescens, efficiently degrades hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene which are common soil and water pollutants), and is therefore a potential tool for environmental cleanup, especially oil spills in the ocean.
A bacteria discovered in the deep sea can clean contaminated soil and water from the toxic mercury pollution caused by coal power plants. The alcanivorax bacteria was discovered at 2km depth on the East Pacific Rise in the Pacific Ocean, close to where Seabed Mining is due to begin in the Clipperton Zone. This bacteria converts mercury salt into a less harmful form of the metal, and along with the metal reducing bacteria living on and in metal polymetallic nodules, may enable the remediation of the millions of square kilometers of mercury-contaminated soil and water that surround coal-power stations across the USA and China that make agriculture grown there not fit for human consumption.
An enzyme which copies pieces of DNA, was discovered in a microbe living on a deep-sea hydrothermal vent off the coast of Italy. It has been turned into a product by New England BioLabs and sold commercially. The enzyme’s evolution under extremely hot and high-pressure conditions makes it more stable, and a more effective approach to copy DNA than its relatives in other species, rendering it a valuable tool for molecular biologists.
These are just a handful of medical and industrial examples of a world that humans have only just begun to explore and understand, as new technologies open new biological frontiers in the sustainable blue industrial revolution.
A habitat at risk
2020 was supposed to be the biggest year for the environment, with major UN negotiations to protect our oceans, biodiversity and the climate.
Some of these talks around the importance of life in the oceans (the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty or BBNJ), has now been postponed to later in the year. The BBNJ treaty was supposed to create a framework to ensure such life in the deep ocean is protected and valued, rather than be put at risk by extractive industrial activities.
At the same time as countries are recognizing the value of deep ocean species, seabed mining companies are lobbying countries to allow them to mine the deep ocean seabed for mineral resources.
A Jamaica-based UN Agency called the International Seabed Authority was due to vote on a legal framework in July 2020 to authorize such commercial mining. It was against particular countries voting at this agency that David Attenborough voiced his opinion.
Scientific outrage
The prospect of starting commercial scale Seabed Mining in 2020 has been to the outrage of leading ocean scientists, civil society and major environmental NGOs, who fear an unprecedented loss of biodiversity and weak regulatory oversight. They are calling for a ban or at the very least, a ten year moratorium on any such commercial operation, until science has sufficiently advanced to understand deep ocean environments.
There are many environmental uncertainties with seabed mining, which would devastate deep ocean habitats and the valuable life that inhabits them.
Life around hydrothermal vents were only discovered 43 years ago in 1977, which completely overturned theories of how life evolved on Earth. Yet, mining will be allowed around such communities in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
Following a trial of experimental Seabed Mining off the coast of Peru in 1989, a quarter of a century later, almost 80% of life had not returned, revealing the extent of permanent damage seabed mining would do to life in our oceans. This includes loss of the valuable microbial colonies that are powerful for new medicines and sustainable industrial processes.
In addition, there is great uncertainty around the toxic clouds of sediment around mining operations, called plumes, that will rise up around any deep ocean machinery as excess sediment is discarded away from the mined metals. Seabed nodules grow 10mm every 10 million years in very delicate ocean environments. Hence Seabed Mining companies’ plans to remove 4cm of seabed sediment implies destroying 40 million years of evolutionary history. This is in addition to any noise and other permanent damage being done by dredging up the seabed as is planned for the Pacific Ocean.
Hence, it is critical that the world has time to study, identify and categorize the unique life on the deep ocean floor before they are lost forever.
Given that the consequences of COVID-19 are estimated to cost the global economy as much as $3 trillion in 2020 (over $8 billion a day, or over $5.5 million a minute), every moment counts in developing effective treatments. There is no seabed mineral more valuable and unavailable on land that justifies such a planetary risk.
The current coronavirus crisis shows just how important it is to have a library of deep ocean natural resources, including deep ocean microbial communities. It is critical to ensure we have a large enough repository of natural product targets to be prepared for the next health pandemic crisis. This could save precious months to identify high potential compounds and develop effective vaccines, saving the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars.
Advances in deep ocean exploration, machine learning and biotechnology to better understand natural products, are all significantly accelerating our understanding of nature and potential medical and industrial applications.
The COVID-19 crisis has been a wake-up call for so many aspects of global governance. The world will be irreversibly changed after this crisis.
The activities we permit to occur in our oceans are yet another area where the world needs to turn its attention to, but this time with much more consideration.
Louis Metzger, Ph.D. contributed to this article, particularly with his knowledge of infectious disease research and the role that micro-organisms will play in the transition to a sustainable economy. Dr. Metzger was formerly a Group Leader and Project Team Leader in Novartis’ Infectious Diseases Unit, where his team sought new antimicrobial molecules for drug discovery, including from Natural Products. He is now the Chief Science Officer of a BioTechnology startup.
How The Indian Ocean Oil Spill Could Impact Global Health
www.forbes.com/sites/louismetzgeriv/2020/08/14/how-the-indian-ocean-oil-spill-could-impact-global-health
Aug 14, 2020,07:02am EDT|1.853 views
Louis Metzger IV
I am an infectious disease biochemist and entrepreneur.
A Japanese oil tanker recently ran aground in the Indian Ocean, devastating one of the world's last remaining global biodiversity hotspots. This could significantly impact the discovery of novel medicines, including those that might combat future pandemics. By killing organisms from fish to microbes, most of them unknown to science, this catastrophe deprives humans of potential therapeutics encoded by those creatures' DNA. What sorts of life-changing molecules might we lose?
We face global destruction of ocean biodiversity due to climate change and pollution.
Human-made disasters, such as the recent oil fouling of a biologically rich reef in Mauritius — a global diversity hotspot — compound these losses.
Essential medicines have been found in the few ocean species that have been extensively studied at a molecular level.
More than 90% of ocean life remains undiscovered, and the majority of known species are not well characterized.
We are destroying unique chemistry, evolved in deep time and encoded by DNA, that can be turned into life-saving drugs.
The loss of these natural medicines is an immense cost of environmental degradation.
Dozens of impactful medicines have originated in the world's oceans. AZT, the first effective antiviral treatment for HIV, was inspired by compounds made by coastal sponges, much like those presently drenched in oil near the coast of Mauritius. This type of molecule — a nucleoside analog — was the starting point for the discovery of antiviral drugs like acyclovir and its derivatives, which are mainstays for controlling flares of herpes and shingles. Chemicals made by ocean sponges possess an array of promising anti-infective activities, targeting pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Sponge nucleoside derivatives led to the discovery of ara-C (Cytarabine), a drug that revolutionized the treatment of certain cancers, including leukemias and lymphomas. Cytarabine is a key component of chemotherapeutic regimens that have increased long-term survival in sufferers of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. Since this drug's approval by the FDA in 1969, ALL patients' long-term survival has increased from 10% to 90%. Another sponge-derived molecule, eribulin (Halaven), marketed by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, is used to treat metastatic breast cancer in women who have already received chemotherapy. Dozens of potential therapeutics have been discovered in sponges, and they are but one type of ocean life.
Species of macroalgae (seaweed) harbor numerous potentially therapeutic compounds. Last month, an international research team showed that molecules extracted from algae can reduce the ability of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing Covid-19) to infect mammalian cells in a test tube. In this experiment, the algal molecules performed better than Gilead's remdesivir. Griffithsin, a molecule derived from a species of red algae endemic to the Canary Islands, inhibits the ability of MERS virus (a close relative of SARS-CoV-2) to invade mammalian cells. Molecules from algae are also under investigation for their ability to aid in the repair of spinal injuries.
The sea teems with microbes. These have evolved to produce chemicals that a pharmaceutical chemist would be unlikely to design. With humanity facing a smoldering pandemic due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ocean microbes may become valuable sources of antibacterial compounds. The antibiotic cyclomarin, which was discovered in an ocean bacterium near the Bahamas, is a promising example among many. Other ocean microbes, such as fungi, produce a host of potential drugs, including compounds having anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities.
In a world ravaged by opioid addiction, ocean organisms offer starting points to develop effective and non-addictive analgesics. Cone-snails hunt fish using a potent blend of toxins, many of which affect their prey’s nervous systems. Study of these toxins' mechanisms of action has led to new drugs for pain relief, including FDA-approved Prialt for severe chronic pain. Other toxins from cone snails show potential for treating a variety of brain diseases, including depression and epilepsy.
These are but some of the examples of the oceans' medicinal treasures. What we have yet to discover may profoundly impact human health and quality of life. Indeed, evolved chemistry may be the planet's most valuable medicinal resource.
The richness and diversity of the chemicals produced by marine organisms is a consequence of the sundry evolutionary pressures under which they evolved. For instance, the numerous molecules in cone snails' venom have evolved in an "arms race" with the snails' prey. As the latter developed immunity to incapacitation by venom molecules, the cone snails produced ever more diverse venom components to maximize their predatory success. The snails consequently evolved to make a pharmacopeia of biologically active chemicals.
Ocean organisms live in environments full of gradients — conditions spanning extremes, which have selected for an extraordinary diversity of life-forms. Examples of such gradients are the sunlight, temperature, pressure, nutrients, salinity, and turbidity experienced by different ocean organisms. Due to their evolution in these gradients, ocean species developed legion metabolic strategies and chemistries particular to each species. These organisms’ evolutionary trajectories, which occurred in deep time and in inherently unknowable conditions, are irreproducible. It follows that much of the chemistry encoded by these species' DNA, once lost, will never be rediscovered nor recreated by human genius.
The Value Of Preserving The Oceans' Unknown Unknowns
Nature's therapeutic molecules, and the organisms which make them, are but one category of oceans' priceless biological assets. With more than 90% of ocean life undiscovered and the vast majority of known species uncharacterized at a molecular level, our losses with each oil spill and each dying reef are unknown and possibly unknowable. Even during a pandemic and economic meltdown, the destruction of an irreplaceable and pristine ocean ecosystem demands our attention. Human-made ecological disasters may deprive an infected patient of the antibiotic that will save their life, or a parent of the drug that will cure their child of cancer.
nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=37837&inline
Summary On November 7, 2007 the container ship Cosco Busan allided with a tower supporting the San Francisco Bay Bridge spilling roughly 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay. The spill contaminated the shoreline adjacent to North Central Bay areas expected to be major spawning grounds for Pacific herring in the following months, based on the preceding decade of surveys. Based on experience following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, it was anticipated that contamination of the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones with Cosco Busan bunker oil could result in toxic injury to early life history stages of Pacific herring. Because of the relative ease of collecting herring spawn samples and a strong scientific understanding of the impacts of oil to herring embryos, this species was also chosen for study as a surrogate for other ecologically important fish species that utilize the intertidal and shallow subtidal for spawning. The aims of this study during the 2007-2008 herring spawning season were to (1) assess and compare the biological responses of herring embryos and larvae that incubated adjacent to oiled shorelines with those incubated adjacent to reference non-oiled sites in the North Central Bay; and (2) characterize the exposure of herring embryos to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) potentially derived from Cosco Busan oil. Because the findings from the 2007-2008 season strongly suggested impacts to embryos incubated at oiled sites, followup field and lab studies were performed during the following two spawning seasons. During the 2007-2008 spawning season, herring embryos developing in situ in San Francisco Bay were assessed for PAH exposure, sublethal cardiac toxicity, developmental abnormalities, and hatching success.
Cages containing artificially fertilized embryos were moored together with passive water sampling devices for PAHs (polyethylene membrane devices; PEMDs) at six sites. Four of these sites were visibly oiled immediately after the spill, while two sites were not oiled but contiguous with the same heavily urbanized shoreline (reference sites). Caged embryos were in the subtidal zone, at a common depth at least 1 m below the surface throughout the tidal cycle. Naturally spawned embryos were collected from five mid to low intertidal sites, four of which were adjacent to the caged embryos. Embryos from all sites were transported to a laboratory for live imaging using digital photo- and videomicroscopy and for incubation to hatching.
Chemical analysis of embryos collected in 2008 and 2010 included PAHs and a suite of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) routinely found in urban environments, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides. Additionally, ovaries and whole bodies of pre-spawning adult herring entering San Francisco Bay in 2008 were analyzed for PAHs and POPs to evaluate the potential for maternal transfer of contaminants. Whereas embryos incubated in the turbid subtidal zone at oiled sites in 2008 showed heart rate defects and pericardial edema consistent with sublethal petroleum toxicity, the vast majority of embryos developing in the intertidal zone at oiled sites died just before the hatching stage, with major disruption of tissues. No toxicity was observed in natural spawn or caged embryos from unoiled reference sites. Very few larvae with normal morphology hatched from natural spawn samples collected at oiled sited in 2008. The composition of PAHs at oiled sites in embryos and PEMDs was consistent with oil exposure against a background of urban PAH sources, although tissue concentrations were too low to explain the dramatic lethality. Concentrations of other pollutants typically associated with urbanization were also too low to cause lethality. In a series of laboratory studies in 2009, Cosco Busan oil demonstrated a potent phototoxic effect, whereby tissues are disrupted through an interaction between as yet identified compounds and sunlight. This phototoxic activity remained potent after two months of weathering. Embryos developing in the subtidal zone at oiled sites were presumably protected from this effect by the highly turbid water above them, while more intense exposure to sunlight in the intertidal zone led to lethality. Natural spawn sampled two years later from oiled sites showed no elevated necrosis or mortality, indicating that phototoxic activity was eliminated by much more prolonged weathering.
Section 6: Summary and Conclusions
•Incubation of caged herring embryos in the subtidal zone at oiled sites 3 months following the spill resulted in signs of canonical petrogenic PAH sublethal toxicity, characterized by reduced heart rate and pericardial edema. •Natural spawn deposited in the intertidal zones of oiled sites 3 months after the spill showed near complete mortality, characterized by acute necrosis of late-stage embryos (near hatching). •Signs of sublethal oil cardiotoxicity and acute late-stage mortality were absent at reference sites 3 months following the spill and at urban reference sites 15 month and 27 months following the spill. •Acute late-stage necrotic mortality was absent in natural spawn at re-sampled oiled site intertidal zones 27 months following the spill. •Forensic analytical chemistry focusing on PAHs showed very low levels (near detection limits) in both caged embryos (17-52 ppb) and natural spawn (18-81 ppb) from all sites. •Low levels coupled with high variability weakened standard comparative statistics for PAH data, but other methods support the presence of a petrogenic signal in embryos and PEMDS above background at oiled sites. •Increased petrogenic input at the most heavily oiled site, Keil Cove, was also supported by PEMD data. •Consistent with the persistent elevation of pericardial edema at Keil Cove, a petrogenic signal remained elevated in embryos from this heavily oiled site 27 months after the spill. •Under conditions of reduced UV exposure, Cosco Busan bunker oil produced canonical oil cardiotoxicity with a lowest effective tissue concentration in the range of 30-75 ppb. •Under conditions of normal UV exposure (i.e. unblocked), Cosco Busan bunker oil is both necessary and sufficient to cause an acute phototoxic response characterized by loss of tissue integrity (necrosis) in late stage herring embryos. •Cosco Busan bunker oil remained highly phototoxic even after 2 months of weathering in oiled gravel columns. These findings support the following conclusions: First, biological indicators such as herring embryos appear to be more sensitive for detecting oil-related adverse affects than current methods in analytical chemistry used for quantification of PAHs. Thus, an increased incidence of pericardial edema was detected in embryos incubated in the subtidal zone at oiled sites, despite lack of a clear chemical measure of exposure. The laboratory studies indicate that oil-induced pericardial edema occurs near and below the detection limits for tissue PAHs. Despite the inability to “fingerprint” Cosco Busan oil in embryos or PEMDs at all oiled sites, the highly consistent lethal phenotype observed in natural spawn indicates a common exposure at all oiled sites. The PEMD data indicate that each site has unique urban/maritime inputs of PAHs, therefore, an urban source cannot be the common exposure. Similarly, differences in salinity or temperature, potential exposure to sewage effluent, and other factors were not consistent among all the oiled sites. The one common factor to these sites was the presence of Cosco Busan oil detected by SCAT surveys. Therefore, the most parsimonious explanation for the collective findings is that an uncharacterized (i.e. non-PAH) and slowly weathering component of Cosco Busan bunker oil accumulated in natural spawn and then interacted with sunlight during low tides to produce lethal phototoxicity. Embryos in nearby cages, shielded by highly turbid San Francisco Bay water, exhibited canonical oil toxicity (i.e. bradycardia and pericardial edema) with no indication of a sunlight interaction. Recovery at oiled sites evident in 2010 natural spawn sampling are consistent with eventual loss of Cosco Busan oil toxicity with prolonged weathering, and indicate that other continuous urban background stressors were not the cause of sublethal or lethal toxicity in 2008.
Front. Mar. Sci., 10 January 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00418An Overview of Seabed Mining Including the Current State of Development, Environmental Impacts, and Knowledge GapsKathryn A. Miller1†, Kirsten F. Thompson1,2†, Paul Johnston1 and David Santillo1*
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00418/full
Per saperne di più sulla rimozione dei relitti di Palmyra:
www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_1/NWRS/Zone_1/Pacific_Reefs_Complex/Kingman_Reef/Documents/FAQs%2001272014%20AF.pdf
In quest'anno dovremmo essere riusciti ad abbattere un bel pò d'inquinamento perché, come dico sempre, dove non poté Greta poté Corona.
Ma disastri di ogni sorta non sono mancati, alcuni dei quali naturali (o quanto meno, non innescati direttamente dall'uomo), come le recenti alluvioni in: Calabria, Sardegna ed Emilia. Bella roba, per un tardo autunno, eh?
Ma i fenomeni estremi sono sempre più da aspettarsi: al TGR Leonardo l'altro giorno, dicevano che la temperatura di novembre è stata la più alta mai registrata come media globale. E che negli ultimi 50 anni è come se una lampadina da 7W sia stata accesa perennemente in una stanza, aumentando di qualche grado centigrado la temperatura media. Insomma, brutta roba a sentirsi. E negli ultimi 10-20 anni le cose sono andate peggio. E persino nei posti meno vulnerabili si sono verificati disastri di cui si sarebbe sentita molto volentieri la mancanza.
MV Wakashio oil spill
Location Offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius
Coordinates 20°26′17.23″S 57°44′40.67″ECoordinates: 20°26′17.23″S 57°44′40.67″E
Date 25 July 2020
Cause Grounding of MV Wakashio
Operator Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
Spill characteristics
Volume1,000 metric tons
Area27 km2 (10 sq mi)
The MV Wakashio oil spill occurred offshore of Pointe d'Esny, south of Mauritius, after the Japanese bulk carrier Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July 2020 at around 16:00 UTC.[1] The ship began to leak fuel oil in the following weeks, and broke apart in mid August. Although much of the oil on board Wakashio was pumped out before she broke in half, an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the ocean in what was called by some scientists the worst environmental disaster ever in Mauritius. Two weeks after the incident, the Mauritian government declared the incident a national emergency[2]
Background
MV Wakashio, a large capesize bulk carrier, was built by the Universal Shipbuilding Corporation of Tsu, Japan.[3] She was laid down on 23 September 2004, launched on 9 March 2007, and was delivered on 30 May 2007.[3] She had a deadweight tonnage of 203,000 tons, a length overall of 299.95 metres (984 ft 1 in), and a beam of 50 metres (164 ft 1 in).[3][4] She was powered by a single diesel engine that gave her a service speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h).[3] The ship belonged to Okiyo Maritime Corp., an associate company of Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd.,[5] and was operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.[6] At the time of her grounding, Wakashio was flying under a Panamanian flag of convenience, despite her Japanese ownership.[4] The ship was sailing without cargo,[7] and departed from Lianyungang, China on 4 July, stopped in Singapore, and was scheduled to reach Tubarão, Brazil on 13 August.[8] A crew of 20 was on board,[6] none of whom were injured.[5]
Japan's ClassNK inspection body said in a statement on 11 August that the ship had passed an annual inspection in March. Mitsui OSK said they doubted whether the incident would have a significant effect on their earnings.[9]
Incident
Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July, but did not immediately begin leaking oil.[7] Oil began to leak from the ship on 6 August,[7] by which time Mauritius authorities were trying to control the spill and minimize its effects, isolating environmentally sensitive areas of the coast, while waiting for help from foreign countries to pump out an estimated 3,890 tons of oil remaining on board.[10] By 10 August, about 1,000 metric tons of fuel had spilled, with estimates of the remaining oil onboard ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 metric tons.[7][11] High winds and 5 metres (16 ft) waves halted cleanup efforts on 10 August; visible cracks in the hull of the ship led to worries that the ship might "break in two," according to Mauritius' prime minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.[12] Jugnauth said that 3,000 tons of oil had been pumped out of the ship's fuel reservoirs. Data from Finnish Iceye satellites indicated the spill had increased from 3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi) on 6 August to 27 km2 (10 sq mi) on 11 August.[13]
The ship broke up on 15 August when there were still 166 tons of fuel inside. Waves 4.5 metres (15 ft) high hindered cleanup.[14] After she split, Wakashio's bow section was towed into the open ocean and scuttled on 24 August.[15] Recovery operations continued around the stern section, which remained aground, and on 31 August a tugboat working on the wreck sank after colliding with a barge in heavy weather, killing at least three crewmembers.[16] In October, a salvage contract for the remaining stern section of Wakashio, still grounded on the reef, was awarded to Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering of China, which planned to begin deconstruction in December and continue for at least several months.[17]
According to investigators who conducted interviews with crew members, the crew had been celebrating the birthday of a sailor on board the ship at the time of the grounding, had sailed near shore for a wi-fi signal.[18] However, local police denied reports that the ship had sailed close to land seeking a Wi-Fi signal, saying that looking for a phone signal would not have required sailing so close to land.[19] Plus, the ship's vessel operator, Mitsui OSK Lines, that their fleet had access to free and unlimited internet access[20]. The ship then failed to respond to warnings of the errant course.[18][21] The ship's captain, a 58-year old Indian national named Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, and deputy captain were arrested on 18 August on suspicion of negligence in operating the vessel.[22][23][19]
The grounding happened at an area which is listed under the Ramsar convention on wetlands of international importance and near the marine park of Blue Bay.[4][24] Tourism plays a major role in the economy of Mauritius, accounting for about 63 billion Mauritian rupees (US$1.59 billion) in spending in 2019, and is centered around marine scenery and animals likely to be endangered by the oil spill.[25] Greenpeace stated that "[t]housands of species [...] are at risk of drowning in a sea of pollution, with dire consequences for Mauritius’ economy, food security and health."[25]
Aftermath
Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth declared a "state of environmental emergency" and requested French help on 7 August.[26] "When biodiversity is in peril, there is urgency to act," French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, "France is there. Alongside the people of Mauritius. You can count on our support dear Jugnauth."[27] France sent both military and civilian equipment and personnel from its overseas territory of Réunion.[25]
Local volunteers joined forces to remedy the situation by making cloth barriers stuffed with straw and human hair.[28] Japan sent a six-member crew of specialists to help in the cleanup.[12] On 11 August 2020, Indian Oil Mauritius Ltd (IOML) started to evacuate oil from the breached vessel onto the IOML barge Tresta Star, which had a capacity to hold 1,000 tonnes of oil.[29] India sent 30 tonnes of technical equipment and material to the country to help contain the oil spill as well as a 10-member team of the Indian Coast Guard specialising in containing oil spills.[30]
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the spill "risks bringing devastating consequences for the economy, food security, health and tourism industry."[31] The group also reminded countries about the importance of international legal instruments such as the HNS Convention for liability and compensation.[31]
Spilled oil was collected and loaded onto barges for handling in Port Louis.[32] On 31 August, a fatal accident occurred during a squall when the tug Sir Gaëtan Duval collided with its barge and subsequently sank; three of the eight-person crew were killed and one more was reported missing.[32][33]
By early November, all surface oil had been removed from Mauritius waters, and restoration of the coastline was expected to be completed by early 2021.[17]
Perceived failure of the government to respond promptly and effectively has resulted in protests.[34] In Mauritius, 150,000 protesters assembled in the capital Port Louis, focusing on the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, including calls for the prime minister to step down.[34] The Prime Minister has denied any responsibility.[35] International protests, primarily led by Mauritian diaspora, also occurred in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the UK.[36]
The government has suspended the parliament, and has been accused of suppressing local media and preventing independent reporting regarding the incident, drawing sharp rebuke.[37] Additionally, the government has been criticised for delegating critical decision-making to faceless and unaccountable 'advisors'.[37]
Calls for shipping industry reform
The oil spill has, along with the 2020 Beirut explosion, brought into sharp contrast failures of the shipping industry, with critics highlighting lax attitude to operational safety.[37] Pope Francis called for increased environmental care to address and prevent such disasters in the future.[38] Shipping industry commentators and publications have also called for self-reflection by the stakeholders, including supporting the calls for increased shipping industry financial responsibility when it comes to disaster response and cleanup.[39]
Environmental damage
Oceanographer and environmental engineer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo said, "Around a little bit less than 50 percent of this lagoon is covered by environmentally sensitive areas, be it corals, be it seagrass, be it mangroves, be it entire mudflats, sand beaches and dunes, which is huge. Which confirms the sensitivity of this lagoon, in terms of oil spill." Ecotoxicologist Christopher Goodchild from Oklahoma State University said, "With this oil spill it looks like there is infiltration out of the mangroves, so you have the oily substance that can bind to organic matter or dirt and start to settle in and just being able to remove that toxic sediment can be a real challenge."[40] Flakes of the damaged anti-fouling coating on the hull can also poison the marine fauna and flora on the reef and surroundings in a similar fashion to what occurred on the Great Barrier Reef.[41]
Reuters quoted unnamed scientists as saying that the spill was likely the worst environmental incident in the history of Mauritius, with effects possibly lingering for decades.[14]
From 6 to 11 August, the spill expanded to over 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).[42] The island's environment minister Kavy Ramano, together with the fisheries minister, told the press that it was the first time that the country faced a catastrophe of this magnitude, and that they were insufficiently equipped to handle the problem.[4]
Many dead sea mammals washed up on local beaches in the days following the spill,[38] and more have been found seriously ill.[34] Among the dead animals are dolphins[38][34][43] and melon-headed whales.[34]
Compensation and cleanup funding
Mauritius requested compensation for the spill from Wakashio owner Nagashiki Shipping, which according to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage is responsible for oil damage. The ruling treaty for the circumstances of the incident is the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, which prescribes a maximum payout of 2 billion Japanese yen in the original draft to which Mauritius is a signatory, and 7 billion yen according to a 1996 amendment signed by Japan. Wakashio is insured by the Japanese P&I Club for up to US$1 billion; the agency said it expected to pay at least some portion of the cost of the recovery effort.[44]
On 2 September 2020, Mauritius also asked Japan to pay $34 million in reparations for the disaster; the island nation demanded the money to "support local fishermen whose livelihoods were adversely impacted by an oil leak last month", according to a Mauritian government document.[45]
The ship's operator/charterer, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, pledged ¥1 billion (about US$9.4 million).[46] The Mauritius Natural Environment Recovery Fund will "fund environmental projects and support the local fishing community".[47] The president of MOL cited the payment as their "social responsibility" while apologizing for the damage.[47] MOL also expects that ship owner Nagashiki Shipping will contribute to the Fund.[47]
INSOMMA, una catastrofe incredibile e ignobile. Ricapitoliamo: il dannato cargo giapponese (per fortuna NON una petroliera) si avvicina troppo a Mauritius, pare per cercare un segnale wi-fi (così è stato riportato), e lo Schettino di turno lo manda a schiantarsi contro una delle isole più belle dell'Oceano Indiano. Già deprivata in passato di gran parte della sua fauna, cerca di trovare un faticoso equilibrio tra oltre un milione di abitanti e il turismo.
Era riuscita a scappare anche al COVIDDI (l'unica nazione senza casi attivi all'epoca, dell'intera zona 'africana'), ma poi non ha potuto fare niente contro questo mostro giapponese, più grosso di Godzilla, che ha distrutto la sua pacifica convivenza con il resto del mondo.
E il governo era chiaramente inadatto a gestire una catastrofe del genere. Ma chi ci ha fatto la peggior figura è il GIAPPONE, che proprio in questi periodi sta scappando via dal bando di pesca per le balene, e che ha mandato ben 6 (SEI!) specialisti per 'aiutare'. Io gli rimandavo indietro le teste mozzate degli specialisti, tanto per far capire che ne penso di tale abbondante aiuto! Ma come è possibile? Chi erano questi sei? Goku, Seya, Gundam, Mazinga, Jeeg Robot, Naruto?
Che paese del cazzo che è diventato il Giappone, fosse stata in pericolo una delle bimbette 'Idol' mandavano la flotta al completo.
Macron ci ha fatto indubbiamente una miglior figura. Ma adesso, chi paga per i danni e le vittime?
Per capirne di più, abbiamo però un grande alleato: la rivista FORBES, la famosa 'rivista per ricchi'. Ebbene, da quel che scrivono, sembra che sia più comunista della biblioteca di Bertinotti. Articoli densi di senso, molto efficaci sia nella descrizione sia nei consigli su cosa fare in caso di inquinamento ambientale, sia per le popolazioni che e sopratutto, per i governi. Davvero ben fatto.
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/11/satellite-imagery-captures-dramatic-homemade-efforts-to-slow-mauritius-oil-spill/?sh=1eb782065525
Satellite Imagery Captures The Massive Efforts To Slow Giant Mauritius Oil Spill
Aug 11, 2020,08:14am EDT|19.771 views
Nishan Degnarain
This is a LIVE story and will be updated with the latest satellite imagery as it becomes available.
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is in the midst of grappling with an ecological disaster following the grounding of Japanese freighter MV Wakashio, on the pristine reefs of Mauritius next to one of its most protected atolls. This protected coral atoll, Ile aux Aigrettes, contains species not found anywhere else on the island or in the world.
Already the oil spill has started to surround this atoll, the large fringing reef (one of Mauritius’ best preserved having survived waves of coral bleaching impacting other parts of the Indian Ocean), and is drifting simultaneously toward the historic Port City of Mahebourg, famous for its naval Napoleonic battles, the National Marine Park of Blue Bay and North toward other protected coral atolls.
This is the worst oil spill disaster to face the island. Local Authorities did not have sufficiently long oil booms available in the country to surround the vessel or contain the leaking oil. The vessel was 259m long and 50m wide (a perimeter of 618m).
How Satellites Tracked The Fateful Journey Of The Ship That Led To Mauritius’ Worst Oil Spill Disaster
New Satellite Analysis Shows Mauritius Oil Slick Growing Ten Times In Size Over Past Five Days
15 Rare Species In Danger From The Wakashio Vessel Oil Disaster In Mauritius
MAURITIUS-MAHEBOURG-OIL-SPILL-EMERGENCY
Volunteers make a nylon net to help prevent the spread of an oil spill in Mahebourg, Mauritius, on ... [+] XINHUA NEWS AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
Whilst questions are being asked why oil booms could not have been flown in from other countries as part of an emergency response whilst the vessel spent 13 days on the reef, a massive voluntary effort was mobilized over social media that saw thousands of volunteers come out to stem the flow of the oil, in spite of the health risks to themselves with the heavy smell of oil in the air.
Since the first crack appeared in the hull of the vessel on Thursday 6 August, islanders from across the country met in local towns and supermarket plazas to manually assemble oil protection booms.
Just as many parts of the world had to rapidly learn how to handmake masks in response to Covid-19, islanders in Mauritius were able to review online how other countries had managed oil spills, adapt these to the local conditions where there was an abundance of dry sugar cane leaves, and exchanged social media messages on the best design for a ‘Made in Mauritius’ oil protection boom. These protection booms were sewn together with nylon, items of clothing, and stuffed with dried sugar cane grass and even human hair.
A smaller number of volunteers had also been working with local environmental NGOs to evacuate endangered species to safer parts of the island, until the full extent of the damage on Ile Aux Aigrettes and surrounding areas can be assessed.
When the story is finally told on MV Wakashio, it will be as much about the courage, innovation and solidarity of the thousands of volunteers as it is about the worst oil spill in Mauritius’ history. In times of Covid-19, such hope is important.
These efforts, as well as the dramatic salvage operation, could be seen from space and was captured by satellites overhead. Here are some of the most iconic images since the grounding of the vessel, from a range of different satellites.
28th July 2020: combining AIS with satellite imagery
All vessels longer than 25 meters must transmit an anti-collision beacon, called an Automatic Identification System (AIS) Transponder. This can be tracked by satellite and reveals the vessel’s location and direction of travel. Analysis by Windward was able to track the trajectory and speed of the vessel as it approached the Mauritian coast.
San Francisco-based satellite company, Planet has the largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites, called CubeSats. These satellites were designed and built by the company and show the MV Wakashio on 28 July 2020 initially being toward the edge of Mauritius’ coral barrier reef.
28 July 2020: Initially, the MV Wakashio remained on the edge of the reef (showing in a lighter shade of blue)
One of Iceye's Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites that uses innovative radar technology to image the Earth through clouds and the night sky
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a type of satellite sensor that can see through clouds and the night sky. By reflecting off hard surfaces beneath, it is easily able to identify the presence of vessels, and is often used to detect illegal fishing activity where fishing transponders are switched off.
These images from Finland-based satellite company, Iceye, and with analysis conduced by Ursa Space Systems, show the MV Wakshio on the reef and then the eventual extent of the oil slick.
On 29 July 2020, the hull of the MV Wakashio can easily be seen on the reefs of Mauritius, showing up in bright white, with no other vessels in close proximity. SAR is a critical asset for countries to help govern their national waters, and is used to quickly identify suspicious vessels or vessels not in the positions they should be if they have their transponders switched off.
29 July 2020: Synthetic Aperture Radar clearly shows the light colored hull of the MV Wakashio against the dark colored reef
29 July 2020: Synthetic Aperture Radar clearly shows the position of the light colored hull of the ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
1st August 2020: satellites show vessel beached on reef before starting to leak oil
Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius for 7 days, and 6 days prior to when it started leaking heavy oil. These images were captured using a high resolution satellite by Maxar Technologies MAXR +7.3%.
Saturday 1 August 2020: Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius for 7 days, and 6 days before it started leaking oil.
Saturday 1 August 2020: Satellites capture MV Wakashio after being beached on the reefs of Mauritius ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
A wider image of the area by Planet shows the supporting vessel, ‘Stanford Hawk,’ at the edge of the reef.
1 August 2020: by Day 5 of the beaching, AIS tracking shows the MV Wakashio has started to drift inward toward the coast. The Tug Boat, Stanford Hawk, can be seen at the edge of the reef.
5th August 2020: distance of vessel’s drift since beaching
Satellite imagery combined with AIS analysis from 5 August 2020 show that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days since it was grounded on the reefs of Mauritius. This is one day prior to the leak that opened up in its hull.
As a bulk freighter, it had a single hull design, unlike oil tankers that have a double hull for added protection against oil spills following the Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska in 1989.
Analysis from 5 August 2020 shows that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days since it was grounded on the reefs of Mauritius
Analysis from 5 August 2020 shows that the 259m long Wakashio has drifted over 650m in the 11 days ... [+] IMAGERY: PLANET, AIS: WINDWARD
6th August 2020: first day of major oil leakage
SAR was also able to identify the extent of the oil spill. Analysis from Ursa Space Systems using Iceye satellites show that on Thursday 6 August 2020, the vessel started to leak heavy oil.
The slick can be seen surrounding the circular Ile aux Aigrettes atoll and heading into the historic Port City of Mahebourg, highlighted in orange in the SAR satellite animation below. Based on calculations by Ursa Space Systems, the spill on 6 August was estimated at 3.3 square
7th August 2020: ship sinking and oozing oil
According to news reports, the ship was carrying 3,894 metric tons of low sulfur fuel oil, 207 metric tons of diesel, and 90 metric tons of lubricant oil. A day after oil began leaking, the extent of the spill can be seen from space, using high definition satellite imagery.
Friday 7th August 2020: the extent of the oil slick around the MV Wakashio becomes clearer a day after oil first started leaking
The extent and spread of the black oil slick within the coral lagoon and around Ile aux Aigrettes can be clearly seen from space.
Friday 7th August 2020: a wider image shows the extent of the damage reaching the environmentally sensitive Ile aux Aigrettes (circular atoll), with operation to remove endangered species.
Friday 7th August 2020: a wider image shows the extent of the damage reaching the environmentally ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
8th August 2020: oil continues to leak from vessel
Using a different high definition satellite (panchromatic, so only displaying in black and white), the resulting oil slick can be seen in black against the grey background of the reef.
Oil salvage efforts at MV Wakashio
Satellites can also capture the vessels involved in the salvage operation as well as the position and effectiveness of the handmade oil booms.
Handmade oil containment booms were set up in multiple locations to try contain the slick.
An assembly point to manually make oil protection booms from dried sugar cane leaves was set up next to the town of Riviere des Creoles along the coast from the Mahebourg waterfront. The magnitude of this effort could be seen from space.
8 August 2020: the assembly of homemade oil protection booms by thousand of volunteers in Mauritius could be seen from space.
Many of these protection booms were deployed along the coastline of the Historic Mahebourg Waterfront to try reduce the coastal impact.
8 August 2020: the deployment of the handmade oil protection booms along the Mahebourg Waterfront could be seen from space
The handmade oil booms around Ile aux Aigrettes, supported by local fishing and tourist boats, are able to capture some of the oil from heading along the coast, and can be seen from space.
The local fishermen wore protective gear when travelling out into the lagoon to deploy the handmade booms.
8 August 2020: handmade booms and voluntary efforts of fishing and tourist vessels can be seen from space
8 August 2020: handmade oil protection booms and voluntary efforts of local fishing and tourist ... [+] SATELLITE IMAGE ©2020 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES.
9th August 2020: ongoing efforts with oil protection booms
Oil protection booms had been deployed in several locations to prevent the spill from spreading around the affected area. In these images, the protection booms around Blue Bay Marine Park can be seen on 9 August 2020, as the MV Wakashio continues to leak oil. Blue Bay Marine Park is a marine habitat with a unique coral reef ecosystem that is strictly protected from fishing and other industrial activities.
11th August 2020: crack widens on hull of Wakashio
This high resolution satellite image from Planet on 11 August 2020 at 1.06pm reveals the front of the vessel rising out above the water as the crack along it’s hull widens. The image was taken just a few hours prior to the widely shared videos online of the hull crack widening.
High resolution imagery from 11 August at 1.06pm Mauritius time shows the front of the vessel rising above the water, just prior to a larger gash appearing on the side of the vessel.
Analysis using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites show that the size of the oil slick has now increased to ten times its original size, from 3.3 square kilometers on 6 August 2020 to over 27 square kilometers on 11 August 2020. This has been highlighted in orange by Ursa Space Systems using satellites from Iceye.
Specially designed SAR satellites, supported by special oil detection software, can identify the extent of oil spills using sensors that pick up details the human eye is unable to see unaided, such as sea surface reflections.
SAR analysis reveals the extent of the oil slick on 11 August 2020 and identifies the impacts that may not be seen with the naked eye.
12th August: salvage operations resume
The resumption of salvage operations on Wednesday 12 August morning can be seen clearly by satellite in several theaters of operation: around the vessel, protecting Blue Bay Marine Park, protecting Point D’Esny Mangrove Wetlands, protecting Mahebourg Waterfront. Wider satellite imagery can help guide some of the front line efforts on the ground.
Activities continue around the vessel, which has started to see the front of the vessel rise above the water line as the crack widens on the side of the vessel and the rears sinks closer to the waterline.
There are several forms of satellites. Optical satellites are helpful to identify features that are clearly recognizable. Sometimes, other satellites camera lens could be helpful in identifying features that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Here, multi-spectral analysis reveals traces of the oil slick heading North on the morning of 12 August 2020. The image is from 2 miles North of the wreck, and second image is a closeup of the area. The traces of oil in the water is highlighted in orange, as is the coast.
Evolution of weather conditions
Using satellites and analysis from meteomatics to assess weather patterns, combined with Windward’s AIS analysis, this show the conditions under which the salvage operations took place. Sped up in an animation for illustration purposes, this shows that between the vessel beaching on 25 July 2020 (start of animation) to 12 August 2020 (end of animation loop), the maximum wave height was between 3m and 7m on average each day (a proxy for the weather). Care must be taken interpreting this, as there is likely to be variation within a day that can be shown using other satellite technologies. The date stamp is in the bottom right of the animation, and the support vessels can be seen as blue triangles around the Wakashio.
Analysis of vessel drift
The extent of the vessel drift can be seen from historic satellite analysis of the moment the vessel was grounded on 25 July until the moment oil started leaking on 6 August 2020 (marked marked in black in the satellite image below). The vessel continues to drift further North after the oil leak began on the 6 August, as seen by the satellite imagery taken on 12 August 2020.
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/11/new-satellite-analysis-shows-mauritius-oil-slick-growing-ten-times-in-size-over-past-five-days/
New Satellite Analysis Shows Mauritius Oil Slick Growing Ten Times In Size Over Past Five Days
Aug 11, 2020,11:15pm EDT|25.255 views
Nishan Degnarain
Latest satellite analysis of oil slick on Tuesday 11 August at 3.12pm Mauritian time shows oil slick expanding to 27 square kilometers
The latest satellite data and analysis of the oil spill caused by the stricken Japanese bulk carrier, MV Wakashio off the coast of Mauritius, taken on Tuesday 11 August at 3.12pm Mauritian time, shows that the area directly impacted by the oil slick has expanded to almost ten times its original size since the vessel first started leaking heavy oil into the coastal waters five days ago.
The analysis reveals that the oil slick now stretches over 14 miles in length along the East Coast of Mauritius from Blue Bay Marine Park to the tourist island of Ile aux Cerfs.
Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites from satellite company Iceye, which are specially calibrated to detect oil slicks, the US satellite analysis company, Ursa Space Systems, was able to estimate the size of the Southern portion of the oil slick up to Pointe du Diable as now covering an area of 27 square kilometers.
This is in comparison to the size of the more concentrated oil slick on Thursday 6 August 2020, when it then covered an area estimated at 3.3 square kilometers, centered mainly around Ile aux Aigrettes and the Port of Mahebourg.
On 6 August 2020, when the Wakashio first started leaking, the size of the oil spill was estimated at 3.3 square km, mainly concentrated along the coast of the Historic Port City of Mahebourg.
Other findings from the SAR satellite analysis reveals:
Small amounts of oil film appear to be entering Blue Bay Marine Park
Most of the Bay of Mahebourg has a thin covering of oil film
The oil slick appears to stretch North, with traces of the oil slick seen slightly beyond the tourist island of Ile aux Cerfs and Ile aux Margenie
The supporting salvage operations can also be tracked using SAR satellites.
Using the false coloring of orange to highlight the extent of the reflective oil sheen, synthetic aperture radar is able to show the oil slick going around the oil protective boom and into Blue Bay Marine Park on the left of the image. The Wakashio is circled in white.
Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar shows the oil sheen moving Northward along the coast of Mauritius, and around the large aquaculture farms off the East Coast of Mauritius on 11 August 2020 at 3.12pm local time, five miles North of the Wakashio crash site.
Oil sheen in Mauritius moving North
Strong winds and currents from the South of the island have pushed traces of the oil sheen North past the small tourist islands of Ile aux Cerfs and Ile aux Margenie, 14 miles North of the crash site.
To the naked eye, the ocean may appear clear, but the silky film of the heavy oil impacts the surface tension and other chemical properties of seawater, and this is what is detected by the SAR satellites.
Oil floats on the surface of water and over time usually spreads out to a thin layer. As the oil spreads, this layer becomes thinner and thinner and changes in color from black or brown to a rainbow of colors and finally to a silver of silver-grey, very thin layer called a sheen.
This rainbow-like sheen can be seen from high resolution satellite imagery around the Port City of Mahebourg on 9 August 2020.
Although a thin sheen may look almost transparent, it has long term consequences for the health of marine life.
It can impact the health of fragile coral reef ecosystems, mangroves, sea birds, fish, turtles, dolphins, whales and shellfish in several ways, impacting lungs, immune and reproductive functions and leading to multiple organ failure among marine mammals. This is particularly concerning for Mauritius, which is one of richest biodiversity hotspots in the Indian Ocean with unique fauna and flora not found anywhere else in the world, particularly in the location of the crash site.
According to the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fish eggs and larvae can be especially sensitive to lethal and sublethal impacts, and can make seafood unsafe for humans to eat.
1600 tonnes of heavy oil left on board
Also on Tuesday 11 August, the Wakashio, experienced a widening gash along its side, that has been widely viewed.
A statement by the vessel owner Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd., revealed that as of Tuesday 11 August,
“Approximately 1,020 metric tons of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) onboard had been pumped out and transferred onto small tankers.
Approximately 1,180 metric tons had leaked out from the vessel fuel tank, of which an estimated 1,000 metric tons had leaked outside of the vessel, and 460 metric tons is estimated to have been manually recovered from sea and coast.
About 1,600 metric tons of VLSFO and about 200 metric tons of Diesel Oil remain on the ship, and transfer work will continue.”
This means that of the 3800 metric tons of heavy oil (VLSFO) on board the vessel on 25 July 2020, 720 metric tons has leaked into the ocean and has been unrecoverable so far, and 1600 metric tons remain at risk on board the vessel, 61% of the original amount.
With ongoing cleanup efforts in the lagoon, less oil on board than the initial volume on 6 August when the leaks commenced, and calmer weather, it is hoped that the extent of the oil spill can stabilize in the upcoming days to aid cleanup and rehabilitation efforts.
15 Rare Species In Danger From The Wakashio Vessel Oil Disaster In Mauritius
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/12/15-rare-species-in-danger-from-the-wakashio-oil-disaster-in-mauritius/?sh=19db64bf45d5
Aug 12, 2020,03:14pm EDT|10.754 views
Nishan Degnarain
The Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius is a world renown biodiversity hotspot.
The country was plunged into a major environmental crisis when Panama-flagged, Japanese bulk carrier, the Wakashio ploughed straight into one of Mauritius’ pristine barrier reefs in the South East of the country on 25 July 2020, and started leaking heavy fuel oil last Thursday 6 August.
The vessel crashed into the center of this fragile and protected ecosystem, and there are ongoing efforts to stem the flow of oil from the vessel before it breaks up. The immediate crash site is known for its pristine waters, large coral barrier reefs, marine parks and small island nature reserves.
Islanders have been particularly shocked to see the dark flows of heavy oil surround a particular coral atoll, the small circular island of Ile aux Aigrettes at the center of most imagery of the oil spill. Although several of the rare captive species have been transported to safe locations since oil started leaking on 6 August, there are growing concerns that when the initial cleanup operation is completed, the long-term implications could be devastating for the region’s and the world’s biodiversity, particularly the unique plant and marine life.
This is one of the most prominent nature reserves in the Indian Ocean. It is a 25 hectare island lying 625 meters offshore, and contains some of the rarest species on the planet, not found anywhere else in Mauritius or the world. It had been planned as the launchpad of restored species into a connected Protected Area Network for the country.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, world leaders had been preparing themselves to make bold commitments to safeguard global biodiversity at a series of international summits. The Ile aux Aigrettes story would have been the crown jewel for these summits, standing out as a global conservation success story and a lesson for how biodiversity can be safeguarded. The nature reserve was first protected in 1965, and has been run by local NGO the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation since 1985 as a refuge to stabilize and restore endangered species to an endemic setting.
The coral atoll refuge was thought to be the safest place to protect these species from mankind’s influence. The events of the last few days have shown otherwise.
The Mauritius Wildlife Foundation has 40 conservation programs operating to support various endangered species. Here are 15 of the most iconic species and habitats that have been directly impacted by the oil spill, and which the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and other local environmental groups are fighting to save.
Plants
1. Ebony Forest
According to Mauritius’ National Parks and Conservation Service, Ile aux Aigrettes has the best preserved native vegetation cover amongst all the coralline islands of the Mascarenes and contains the last remaining patch of native ebony-rich forest which was once abundant over much of Mauritius. It is home to one of the largest and best preserved lowland ebony forests remaining in Mauritius.
2. Rare Trees and Shrubs
Mauritius has a rich and diverse flora, with more than 670 species of flowering plants of which 315 are endemic i.e., only found in Mauritius. Around 200 endemic plant species are threatened and some 50 species are known from less than 10 individuals in the wild. Many plant species are restricted to small patches of native forest, such as Ile aux Aigrettes.
The island is a refuge for many other rare and unique trees, shrubs and flowers, such as the Bois d’ébène Tree (Diospyros Egrettarum), the Calvaria Tree (Sideroxylon Boutonianum) that was once thought to be entirely dependent on the Dodo for its survival, the Dragon Tree or Bois Chandelle (Dracaena Concinna), and the shrub Bois de Boeuf (Gastonia Mauritiana). All of these were at the brink of extinction at some stage and have been carefully tended for many years.
Birds
3. Mauritius Pink Pigeon
The Mauritius Pink Pigeon was being bred at Ile aux Aigrettes and had been a global conservation ... [+] MAURITIUS WILDLIFE FOUNDATION
The Mauritius Pink Pigeon had been one of conservation’s great success stories. This large, endemic bird was on the brink of extinction in 1991 with only 10 individuals remaining. Following a successful breeding program on Ile aux Aigrettes, the bird was introduced into a secondary location in Mauritius in the Black River Gorges National Park in the past few years, and all populations are closely monitored by the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation. The Pink Pigeon is the only Mascarene Pigeon that has not gone extinct.
4. Mauritius Fody
This small bird was endemic to Mauritius, but classified as critically endangered after the population fell significantly between 1975 and 1993. 93 fodies were released onto Ile aux Aigrettes between 2003 and 2006, and the population has slowly stabilized to around breeding 100 pairs. Its numbers have since increased and 900 are believed to now exist on the island. The Mauritian Fody is dependent on local exotic forests to protect it from predators, and was slowly being released to other outlying islands that did not contain predators.
5. Mauritius Olive White-eye
The Mauritius Olive White-eye is one of the rarest birds in Mauritius, and only found on Ile aux Aigrettes. The population declined dramatically from 350 pairs in 1975 to only 120 pairs in 2002. A reason for its rarity is that the Mauritius Olive White-eye evolved around the nectar of several endemic flowers from Mauritius. The introduction of other plant species has led to a decline in the required flowers and hence to severely decreasing numbers of the birds. After a successful breeding program their population is estimated to be around 300, but are still registered as critically endangered on the IUCN list.
Reptiles
Of the 18 species of reptile that used to be found in Mauritius, only 13 remain, and 7 of these are exclusively found on the offshore islets such as Ile aux Aigrettes where they escaped extinction from invasive species such as rats.
6. Aldabra Tortoises
Historically, giant tortoises were found on many Western Indian Ocean islands. They are one of the largest tortoises in the world and were once thought to have been driven to extinction by 1840 due to over exploitation by European sailors. A small population survived on Aldabra Coral Atoll in the Seychelles. 20 were being bred on the Ile aux Aigrettes reserve for reintroduction back into the outlying island of Mauritius.
7. Telfair Skinks
The once numerous Telfair Skink – a type of lizard - suffered significant population decline due to loss of its habitat and invasive species brought into Mauritius over the past 200 years such as goats, rats and rabbits. The Telfair Skink is related to two now-extinct species, the Giant Skinks of Mauritius and Reunion Island. The last remaining populations had been found on an outlying island of Mauritius, Round Island to the North, where only 5000 individuals were counted in the 1970s. Following a successful captive breeding program in the UK, the skink population was being slowly introduced to other outlying islands like Ile aux Aigrettes.
8. Bojer Skink
The critically endangered Bojer Skink was once abundant across Mauritius, but suffered 80% loss of population since 2010 due to invasive species. The Bojer skink is the only species in its genus, and diverged from all living species more than 30 million years ago (by comparison, humans diverged from their closest relatives less than 7 million years ago). They were being bred on Ile aux Aigrettes reserves to stabilize the population.
9. Bouton Skink
Bouton Skinks are endangered and are of particular biological interest. They live on coastal rocky habitats, like the famous volcanic rocks of Mauritius, and sometime feed on small fish and small crustaceans found in rock pools from the splash zone. The Bouton Skink is endemic to Mauritius, and were being bred on Ile aux Aigrettes reserve.
10. Ornate Day Gecko
The Mauritius Ornate Day Gecko is one of the smallest day gecko, growing to a length of 12cm. They can be found in trees and bushes in the drier areas of Mauritius. Geckos are small lizards with unique characteristics. They cannot blink, but often lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist.
They typically feed on insects and like to lick soft, sweet fruit, pollen and nectar. Their population is small and unknown on the few outlying islands where they are present, such as Ile aux Aigrettes.
In 2014, five Mauritian Ornate Day Geckos achieved fame when they were sent into space for an experiment to understand the effects of gecko reproduction in microgravity. Although the two month mission was designed to bring the geckos back to Earth, the Russian Space Agency lost communication with the satellite early into its mission and the fate of the Mauritian space geckos remain unknown.
11. Lesser Night Gecko
The night species of geckos have evolved particular vision so that their color vision in low light is 350 times more sensitive than human color vision.
The dark colored, rare and endemic Lesser Night Gecko was being protected on Ile aux Aigrettes to strengthen the species’ population on the outlying islands.
Geckos have several unique properties. Their tails are specially designed to allow them to quickly break off if caught by a predator, but can then grow back again. Geckos’ toes are also specially evolved with special microscopic hairs, called setae, which give geckos their sticky ability.
12. Round Island Day Gecko (known as Günther's Day Gecko)
This unique species of gecko can grow to around 12 inches. It was only found on the outlying islands of Mauritius such as Ile aux Aigrettes and was bred in captivity until 1999. Their population has since increased to just over 2000. Günther's Geckos were being reintroduced slowly into the outlying islands and were being kept in Ile aux Aigrettes. When a gecko falls, it can twist its tail to a right angle to allow it to land on its feet, in a stunt that takes just 100 milliseconds.
Internationally protected areas
13. Mangrove Wetlands
In the 1970s, the alarming loss of coastal wetlands forced Governments around the world to come together to sign an intergovernmental international treaty for their protection, called the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where it was signed in 1971. Mauritius ratified this treaty in 2001 and under this international law, the UN Scientific Agency, UNESCO identifies sites in the country that are of international importance.
The Wakashio’s crash site is home to two UNESCO Ramsar wetlands protection sites. This reflects the biological uniqueness and importance of this region. The first is Pointe d’Esny Wetland characterized by its mangrove forest containing many rare species of mangrove plants. These provide habitats for the rare and protected endemic butterflies of the region.
14. Blue Bay Marine Park
The second UNESCO Ramsar wetlands protection site is Blue Bay Marine Park. It’s coral diversity of 38 coral species across 28 genera and 15 families support over 233 fish species, 201 shell-baring mollusc species, as well as the endangered green turtle, which lays its eggs in the soft sand of the Bay. It is also home to the largest brain coral in the Indian Ocean, estimated to be around 1000 years old and 7 meters wide. Brain corals are so called due to their spherical shape and grooved surface that resembles a brain. They tend to feed at night, where they extend their tentacles to catch food.
15. Green Turtle
The endangered Green Turtle is particularly at risk. There are several turtle breeding habitats on the large, isolated sandy beaches. The turtle, whose nursing grounds are in the Blue Bay Marine Park and along the East Coast of Mauritius use the pristine, sandy beaches to bury their eggs during nesting season. The long term consequences on vulnerable turtle populations – particularly the eggs and hatchlings - by the fine, toxic particles of heavy oil interspersed with the sand, is yet to be fully understood.
Other Ocean Life
In addition to the large expanse of coral reefs that fringe the island and provide a barrier to erosion, the Southeast Coast of Mauritius is known for pods of dolphins, sharks, rays and seasonal migration of whales.
It’s pristine waters comes from across the Indian Ocean as well as currents from Antarctica to the South of the island.
A major new approach to Biodiversity Protection
With such wildlife under threat from climate change, and now large industrial pollution incidents, a major upheaval is required in the way that Biodiversity Conservation is approached.
In addition to smarter designation of connected protected areas, more effective surveillance using newer technologies and greater investment to understand the biological significance of particular habitats and species, advances in medical technologies and synthetic biology could offer hope to species that are on the brink of collapse. Such approaches are being explored to restore rhino populations in Africa.
A lot of these unique species could provide the hope for new materials and medicines, including potential treatments for Covid-19. By investing in the science, technology and workforce of the future to understand the importance and value of this unique biology, it may be possible to put biotech and a bio-economy at the heart of sustainable economic growth and build back better. Indeed that is what several California-based Silicon Valley companies have been exploring as part of the post-Covid rebound.
If done well, this could make biodiversity-rich, economically-poor countries like small island states of Mauritius, the new Silicon Valley for the BioTech economy.
With the world on the brink of a sixth mass extinction and facing the loss of coral reefs around the world under our current climate trajectory, perhaps now is the time to attempt radically new approaches, before we lose these species forever.
The Critical First Five Steps Every Country Should Take When Responding To A Major Oil Spill
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/14/the-critical-first-five-steps-every-country-should-take-when-responding-to-a-major-oil
Aug 14, 2020,11:00pm EDT|903 views
Nishan Degnarain
Major oil spills, like what happened on the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius last Thursday, are unfortunately more common than they should be.
Years of forcing the global shipping industry to increase sustainability and safety standards have not yielded sufficient results, as international shipping continues to lag behind on climate change commitments.
This has placed many smaller nations, without the resources to handle a major oil incident, woefully unprepared to deal with the complexity and magnitude of how to handle major industrial oil spill, as Mauritius found to its cost last week. As an aging and abandoned large crude oil tanker off the coast of Yemen is also at risk of spilling across the entire Red Sea, causing the US Secretary of State to issue an alert, what steps do countries have to take if a major oil spill hits their shores for the first time?
What happens when there is an oil spill and what steps should a country take, particularly if they’ve never experienced such an event.
It all eventually boils down to two questions.
A question of How Much and Who Pays
After all is said and done, oil cleanup operations come down to two questions: who pays, and how much do they pay. Some key early decisions could mean an order of magnitude (ten times) difference in any payout. This is critical to know.
All major shipping companies pay into catastrophic risk insurance. Ultimately, any funds for restoration of habitats will come from this pooled risk insurance that has pockets of billions of dollars. As a comparison, compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which had a robust scientific assessment behind it, was $20 billion, for Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 it was $5 billion (over $10.5 billion in today’s prices). If bilateral settlement terms for what is a reasonable cost of cleanup cannot be reached, this will often go to arbitration. This is a well understood process.
At such arbitration, the quality of the data collected in the early days of the incident will make all the difference in the decision of the magnitude of payout made.
Here are the five critical steps that any country experiencing an oil spill must take in the immediate days following a crisis.
1. Containment
Salvage teams work on containment of oil as well as ensuring the stability of the vessel during the ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
There are two aspects to this: containing the oil spill itself, and salvaging the vessel. This often entails two different sets of experts for each challenge.
Containing the oil spill
A key group of international technical experts in suggesting effective spill response techniques to a maritime incident is ITOPF. They are usually activated by a vessel’s owner and insurer. They may organize a spill response team, such as Oil Spill Response Limited, which are the largest international industry-funded cooperative that exists to respond to oil spills wherever in the world they may occur, by providing preparedness, response and intervention services. They are wholly owned by most of the environmentally responsible oil and gas companies, who employ 275 people across 12 locations around the world. They also respond to spills for non-members, subject to a set of pre-set fees.
They are the teams who advise and lead on the initial operational details of containing the oil spill, including at distances far from the actual accident site itself.
Salvaging the vessel
In cases where vessels have been structurally impacted, the experts are typically the large, global, salvage companies who are appointed by the ship’s owners and insurers.
2. Collect and Freeze Samples immediately at an unprecedented scale
Whilst in many countries there is often the initial shock, confusion and coordination challenges in the immediate aftermath of a spill, the samples collected in the immediate days following a spill (and continually in the following days and weeks), will be the biggest determination of any cleanup compensation payout.
No resource should be spared collecting these samples using the right scientific protocols that would be admissible in any arbitration. The pay off from extensive and well cataloged samples could mean the difference of a payout that is orders of magnitude (ten times) greater, and would justify any investment in the collection team and robust scientific protocols that could be admissible in any arbitration.
Once this window is missed, it may be too late to see the full extent of the damage caused, as lessons from the quality of sampling around the Cosco Busan show.
Biological samples (such as coral, fish, mangrove tissue) can reveal certain bio-markers of where the pollution may have traveled that is invisible to the naked eye or satellite evidence. To obtain these indicators, specimens need to be genetically tested using specialist genomic equipment that is widely available in the US and Europe.
SAR satellite imagery of the spill
Often such equipment is not present in the location of the spill and there is a several week delay for this to arrive (especially given Covid-19). However, this does not mean samples should not be collected daily from specific locations under specific protocols. These samples can be frozen and tested many weeks or months later when the right equipment arrives.
Incidentally, due to Mauritius’ strong response to Covid-19 (there are no local cases), many PCR kits are currently available which may end up being one of the most powerful tools in the oil spill response. That, combined with armies of specially trained volunteers from the tourism and fishing community who know the area, could give a strong advantage for a unified a national response.
The documentation for the ‘chain of custody’ is critical
NOAA chart
What is most important for samples to be admitted in any arbitration settlement is the strict cataloging of the chain of custody and storage of the samples. The importance of this cannot be emphasized enough. Many cases have fallen apart when it was alleged that samples could have been tampered with.
Fortunately, Mauritius has a large and secure tuna industry and aquaculture facilities with refrigeration and security capacity that should address these concerns.
The documentation and protocols can be printed off from existing documentation, such as on Page 23 of NOAA’s guide to Heavy Fuel Oil spills. Often a swift training is required for all collecting officers. Given the large local fishing and tourism sector around the crash location, Mauritius has the opportunity to secure and freeze a much more compelling set of baseline data than many other countries. Especially given how well studied and monitored the wildlife sanctuaries around the crash site were.
3. Develop a unified, national response
When major oil spill or mining accidents occur, there is often anger and confusion. Whilst there is ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
There is often a ‘fog of war’ after a major oil spill, particularly where this happens in a country for the first time. It took two major oil spills (1969 Santa Barbara, California and 1989 Exxon Valdez) for the US to fully have its standard operating protocols and laws in place, so they could better handle the Cosco Busan in San Francisco Bay in 2007.
In most countries, there is often inter-departmental challenges. In the US, following major oil spills, the Port Authorities are often at odds with the Environmental Agencies (EPA and NOAA). However, in the most effective cases, they are put under the umbrella of the US Department of Justice to ensure a coordinated response with sufficient and fast-tracked funds, to ensure the best possible outcome for the citizens of the affected area.
Whilst there may initially be trade-offs between who pays for sample collections, scientific information, and other baseline impact studies, resourcing should be agreed in a unified way. In the United States, there are often well established established Accident Investigation Boards for major events that look into the forensics of the incidents and lessons learned. Such processes into the causes of what happened should be handled separately from preparing a strong and independent Natural Resource Damage Assessment case for compensation from any polluter.
4. A country should engage its own independent experts
These should be separate from those provided by the polluting company, the insurer or any host nation associated with a polluter
This is critical. Given the magnitude in any payout, not all international experts are incentivized to offer objective advice. In many cases, it may be more prudent for the insurer to have a ‘counter-narrative’ to diminish the potential impact (e.g., describing an environment that was already in decline, tourism was impacted by Covid-19 or that multiple factors were to blame, rather than what the insurer is responsible for).
Where a country has its own set of independent experts who have gone through major oil spills before, these countries are always more effectively prepared with a stronger, unified narrative. Given that settlements are often in the hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, there are very high stakes here to have the right, independent experts on the side of the country and citizens who have been impacted.
5. Invest in a world class science team
ARGENTINA-HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINE-LABORATORY
A world class science team will ensure appropriate security and storage of all samples from as wide ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The centerpiece of any claim will come down to the credibility of the science presented. This will be determined by the quality of the samples and data collected (including how strictly scientific protocols were carried out and the extensiveness of the tests), as well as the quality of the experts engaged.
Often, a polluter or host nation would offer to pay for a scientific team. This could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for the host nation. Not all scientists are equal, and each may use different approaches to reduce their assessment of impact.
One example that has been seen in many places is for a scientist to cut fish into slices to visually look for the presence of oil as the main indicator. Whilst this makes for compelling media images, this does not give robust scientific information. When a fish takes in oil, it is akin to a human drinking alcohol. The liver de-toxifies (reduces the toxicity) of the alcohol. The only way to accurately assess the impact of an oil spill is through advanced genetic testing.
There is a specific gene that is sought for in genetic testing and that is the famous CYP1A gene (part of the family of CYP enzymes). This is a critical indicator in response to oil spills. This is a well known ‘bio-marker’ that indicates the fish’ defense mechanisms have been activated against the pollution. If more of this enzyme is made, that may be an indicator that the fish trying to detoxify itself, as admissible evidence of stress due to the oil spill. This is the true measure to understand the impact of an oil spill (not visual inspection of a slice of fish), which reveals that oil spills are often the ‘invisible killer’ to marine life. These bio-markers can easily be detected using PCR tests, that are commonly being used for Covid-19 testing.
Digital screen showing DNA profile match
The output from DNA results will look like a series of lines. Experts will know how to read these ... [+] GETTY
Hence it is important that any country impacted agree swiftly on an international scientific team from an internationally respected university who can work with local scientists to jointly frame the right questions and focus immediately on collecting the right samples. With Exxon Valdez in Alaska, only a certain set of species population needed to be monitored. With more biodiverse areas, experts in animal diseases from corals, mangroves, birds, turtles, insects, dolphins, whales, crustaceans, plants, flowers and trees would need to be engaged to know which indicators to start searching for. Some of the world’s leading scientists who worked on behalf of the communities that secured the $20 billion settlement from BP from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout, are at Stanford University’s Marine Hopkins Laboratory in California. They also happen to have some of the world’s deepest expertise in the Indian Ocean, covering coral reefs, fish and other rare marine life found only in the Indian Ocean.
Dispute resolution
If the funding party (the polluter or their sponsoring nation) does not agree to a highly credible, world class scientific team from a separate country, it is often prudent for the host Government to pay for this scientific expertise themselves and be reimbursed later during any settlement. These costs may be as high as $3 million initially for the full range of scientific logging, right equipment, and expertise that a world class scientific team can oversee and evaluate the samples being collected, working and training local scientists to build capacity long after the international scientists have left.
Bearing in mind that the Cosco Busan’s settlement was $44m for a spill that was in the heavily industrial San Francisco Bay three and a half times smaller than the Wakashio in Mauritius and significantly smaller than the risk from theSafer tanker off the coast of Yemen and the environmentally sensitive Red Sea with some of the last remaining Pristine Corals, the investment in the right internationally renown scientific team early on could immensely strengthen any case during arbitration.
Toxic In The Tropics: The Invisible Killer Now In Mauritian Waters After Major Heavy Oil Spill
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/14/toxic-in-the-tropics-the-invisible-killer-now-in-mauritian-waters
Aug 14, 2020,10:00pm EDT|10.957 views
Nishan Degnarain
I cover innovation within the green/blue industrial revolution.
MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
This aerial view taken on August 8, 2020 shows the Pointe d'Esny mangrove forests, and the Grand ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Update: this article was updated with a fifth factor following observations from the scientists at Stanford University who worked on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and are closely monitoring the situation in Mauritius.
Last week, bulk carrier Wakashio broke up on the pristine coral reefs off the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius, leading to a major oil spill and national emergency in the country.
Whilst the imagery does not show the extensive graphic spills associated with incidents like the Exxon Valdez oil tanker in Alaska in 1989 or the Deepwater Horizon oil well blow-out in the United States in 2010, four factors make the Wakashio spill in Mauritius a particularly lethal cocktail:
- the nature of the oil
- the size of the spill
- the location of the incident
- the effect of what happens to Heavy Fuel Oil when exposed to high ultra-violet sunlight in the Tropics - where Mauritius is located
- timing - cooler waters of the Winter months
Two types of oil spills: Crude Oil Spills and Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil Spills
There are two main types of oil spills:
1. Crude Oil Spills
Crude Oil Spill: April 9, 1989 - crude oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez, top, swirls on the surface ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS
These could come from the rupture during the transportation of oil in an oil tanker, such as the Exxon Valdez oil tanker in Alaska in 1989 or the Prestige oil tanker in Spain in 2002). They could also come from oil well blowouts, such as the Deepwater Horizon blow out in the US Gulf of Mexico for 2010.
Such incidents tend to be very visible with floating patches of oil and contain a high volume of oil that covers an extensive area - the worst oil spill in history at the time was the Exxon Valdez tanker that spilled 37,000 metric tons, ten times the amount in Mauritius, and was initially asked to pay over $5 billion in damages for the 1989 spill (equivalent to $10.5 billion today). Images of Crude Oil Spills are often full of many seabirds and wildlife visibly distressed and drenched in oil. After the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, the laws governing international shipping changed to ban single-hull carriers from transporting oil and ensure all hulls were double-hulled, thereby creating an additional layer of protection in cases of accidents.
As the product is crude oil, this contains many of the lighter compounds that are high value and extracted during the oil refining process like aviation fuel, car fuel, petroleum ethanol, paraffin, and other petrochemicals.
2. Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil Spills (HFO Spills)
Heavy Bunker Fuel Spill: The 738-foot freighter Selendang Ayu, in two sections, takes a battering ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Bunker oil is the term used to refer to the oil used to power a ship’s engine, whether that vessel is a cargo, a bulk carrier or a cruise ship. This fuel is typically low grade, unrefined and the leftover sludge from taking out all the high quality products during petroleum refining process. It is heavily concentrated and thick. This heavy bunker fuel is then mixed with diesel to allow it to float to the surface on water. Bunker fuel is graded A, B or C, with C being the thickest and most viscous, often requiring heating or blending in order to make it flow. Mixed with up to 10 percent of a lighter fuel, such as diesel, it becomes a cheap fuel for use in shipping (30% cheaper than alternatives). It is often referred to by many names (such as Bunker Fuel, Heavy Bunker Fuel, Heavy Fuel Oil or HFO, No6 Grade C Oil).
In the case of the Wakashio in Mauritius, the vessel appears to have been carrying the heaviest type of bunker fuel, No 6 (Grade C) fuel, that requires special handling for cleanup operations, as NOAA’s guidelines for No 6 (Grade C) bunker fuel oil spills indicate.
TOPSHOT-MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
Volunteers collect leaked oil from the MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground at the beach in ... [+] L'EXPRESS MAURICE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Although Heavy Fuel Oil is the most common form of oil used in shipping, there is significant controversy about its use and there have been strong efforts to have it banned both in order to meet Climate Change commitments, as well as the risk to the environment. Spills from Heavy Fuel Oil are more common than Crude Oil spills due to vessel accidents, poor maintenance or vessels cleaning their engines illegally at sea, so do not receive as much media coverage. Although visually, Heavy Fuel Oil Spills are much lower volumes than Crude Oil spills (as vessels are not transporting oil), so spills are a lot less visible on the ocean surface, they can be extremely toxic.
The risk of HFO spills are so toxic that the they are already banned from Antarctica (just South of Mauritius) and the international shipping regulator, the International Maritime Organization based in London, is finalizing plans to have it banned from the Arctic in the next few years due to the fragile nature of the Arctic ecosystem, and high exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun, that makes it even more lethal. There have also been strong campaigns in the Arctic to ensure that vessels using Heavy Fuel Oil are double-hulled rather than single-hulled. The vessel, Wakashio, that crashed in Mauritius was single hulled.
The lethal cocktail of the Wakashio oil spill
There are five factors that make the nature of the Wakashio oil spill in Mauritius particularly lethal, compared with most other Heavy Fuel Oil spills. Let’s go through each in turn.
1. Type of oil involved: Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil (HFO)
As the incident in Mauritius involves the Heavy Bunker Fuel type of oil spill - rather than the Crude Oil type - any Natural Resource Damage Assessment should be informed by past work on large Bunker Fuel Oil Spills, such as the Cosco Busan vessel in San Francisco in 2007 or the Selendang Ayu vessel incident in Alaska in 2004 that also ran aground and split in two. Comparisons with Crude Oil spills are not appropriate, so it is important to have a list of all Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil spills as a comparison on where the Mauritius Wakashio spill ranks.
Harsh Weather Threatens Salvage Operation Of Cracked Freighter
The legacy of the Selendang Ayu is still being felt ten years on in Alaska. In that spill it was estimated that 1250 metric tons (350,000 gallons) were spilled and not recovered. There was a discrepancy between what the investigation found and what environmentalists claimed was spilled. Part of this discrepancy was the isolated location of the crash site in Alaska and difficulty of swiftly completing extensive sampling in time for this evidence to be admissible during the crash investigation. Even despite the lower estimate of how much Heavy Bunker Fuel Oil was lost, the clean up settlement was over $112 million.
Bay Area Reacts To Devastating Oil Spill
The highest profile example of bunker fuel pollution in the US was in 2007 when the Cosco Busan container ship collided with the Bay Bridge in fog in the heart of San Francisco Bay.
In that incident, 191 tons of heavy bunker fuel leaked in the busy San Francisco Bay (54,000 gallons of bunker oil). This is in comparison to the 700 metric tons that has been reported to have been leaked into the pristine waters of Mauritius as of 11 August 2020 - three and a half times that of the Cosco Busan - of the 3800 metric tons that was on board at the time of the crash.
During the investigation of the impact of bunker fuel on wildlife habitats following the Cosco Busan spill, many previously unidentified harmful chemical properties of bunker fuel (chemicals called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, or PAH for short) were discovered causing extreme damage to local wildlife. The impact report from the Cosco Busan highlights some of this harm on the wildlife’s reproductive health. The compensation paid was $44 million, four years after the incident. This payout could have been significantly higher had the accident taken place in more pristine waters, such as California’s national marine parks, just outside San Francisco.
2. Volume of bunker oil
Initially, 1000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil was leaked from the MV Wakashio into Mauritius' ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the case of the Wakashio, satellite analysis reveals that the vessel had just completed a refuelling stop for 18 hours in Singapore on 13 July 2020 and was only in the first 12 days of its long journey to Brazil to transport a heavy cargo of iron ore.
As of 11 August, over 700 metric tons had been leaked and not retrieved from Mauritius’ pristine waters, three and a half times that of one of the worst Heavy Fuel Oil spill of 191 metric tons by the Cosco Busan. It was reported that further leaks have happened overnight, and these volumes have not yet been confirmed.
3. Location of the oil spill: at the center of a network global biodiversity hotspots
Primary age school boy admiring the starfish snorkeling in the shallow water of lagoon, Ile aux ... [+] GETTY
Multiple global biodiversity hotspots: Whereas the Cosco Busan accident occurred in the heavily industrialized San Francisco Harbor, the Wakashio crashed into the center of a network of three internationally renown and protected nature refuges containing some of the most endangered species on the planet. These were the two UNESCO Ramsar Protected sites of Blue Bay Marine Park, Pointe D’Esny Mangrove Forests, as well as the nature preserve of Ile aux Aigrettes that contained some of the rarest species in the country, such as Mauritius' last remaining low lying ebony forests, not found
on any other location on the island. The oil spill has also spread to other outlying islands - the network of Islets National Parks, that were protected nature reserves for Mauritius’ endemic species, such as Ile de la Passe, llot Vacoas, Ilot Phare, Ile aux Fouquets, Ile Marianne, Ile aux Fous, which could be seen by satellite to have been engulfed by the toxic oil slick. By the fifth day of the spill, the slick could be seen as far as 14 miles North at the protected Ile aux Cerfs. These have habitats and populations that have been carefully monitored for years and in the case of many endangered species under the care of the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, had been on the path to recovery - one of global conservation’s greatest success stories.
Mauritius Oil Spill
Morphology of the HFO spill site: In addition to the species impacted, the conditions around the location of the spill site adds increasing complexity. As a comparison, 30 years after the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989, over 20,000 gallons of oil continue to remain trapped and still ooze from the rocks, less than half (13 of 32) wildlife populations monitored had recovered, and a pod of killer whales had lost 15 of its 22 members after the spill and was expected to die off completely in the coming years. The shores around Prince William Sound in Alaska where the Exxon Valdez ran aground was next to Alaska’s wildlife preserves and had rocky, shale-like bedrock which still trapped the residue oil.
Mauritius beach
Image of the deep sandy beaches and crystal blue waters of Blue Bay Marine Park, Mauritius, prior to ... [+] GETTY
The conditions around the Pointe d’Esny crash site of the Wakashio will make oil recovery much more challenging than the case of the Prince William Sound, which had rocky bedrock. Looking at the direction of travel of the spill, these are some of the largest and most protected soft, sandy beaches in Mauritius interspersed with the root systems of protected mangrove forests, and contained with the largest coral reef lagoon in Mauritius.
The strong wind and current conditions had already started dispersing the spill
Satellite SAR captures the extent of the spill entering Blue Bay Marine Park
Satellite SAR captures the extent of the spill entering Blue Bay Marine Park and many of the ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
around other beaches and outlying coral atolls. These conditions are already trapping heavy oil particles amid the sand and root systems of the mangroves. This will make the task significantly more complicated as the oil is absorbed by the roots and sandy beaches, effectively acting as giant sponges to the toxic oil. So whilst a lot of the oil may not be visible to the naked eye or by satellite, it’s presence will be felt for many years to come. This means that such toxins are likely to be around for many years, even if not visible to the naked eye.
4. Bunker fuel in the tropics: enhanced ultra-violet (UV) toxicity
Heavy Fuel Oil is particularly lethal in areas of high sunshine, such as the tropical climate of Mauritius. It is important to understand the science about why this is the case, as the type of oil carried by the Wakashio potentially carries increased toxicity in a tropical climate.
Small organisms readily absorb an array of chemicals from spilled Heavy Fuel Oil. Once inside an organism’s tissues, when some of these chemicals interact with ultra-violet (UV) rays of sunlight, energy is released from the chemicals that cause damaging chemical reactions. These reactions lead to tissue death, with very small organisms literally falling apart.
Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus Demersus), covered in oil from tanker spill
Do not expect to see many images of oil drenched birds: all the changes are taking place invisible ... [+] GETTY
When Heavy Fuel Oil interacts with ultra-violet (UV) rays of sunlight, it transforms the chemical properties of the oil, increasing its reactivity and toxicity. It is particularly lethal to translucent organisms close to the surface, such as corals as their naked skin lets in the light that can then be photo-reactive with the oil compounds. These oil chemical compounds when exposed through the translucent skin are then photo-modified and are ingested by the corals. This leads to toxicity and can cause organisms to die or dissolve in minutes, as prior research shows such as the results from from the 2007 Cosco Busan disaster, entitled ‘Sunlight and bunker oil a fatal combination for Pacific herring’ and ‘Potent Phototoxicity of Marine Bunker Oil to Translucent Herring Embryos.’
The enhanced UV toxicity of bunker fuel impacts the young of many species, such as larval fish both directly as well as through their reproductive cycles. Many coral reef fishes breed in the protected nursery grounds of the mangroves that are currently drenched in heavy oil. This nursing habitat is likely to be severely disrupted over the upcoming weeks, months and years, even if there is no immediate physical appearance of dark oil to the naked eye. The leaching of the oil over time from these habitats will continue to create a pollution hazard.
Qingdao BGI Research Institute
How samples should be tested: DNA extraction from fish, 12 August 2020. Samples can be stored ... [+] BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES
Importantly the researchers who have studied prior oil spills have developed molecular technology that enables sampling of genes that are like a light switch- they turn on and off when exposure to toxic substances occurs. Using genomic (DNA) sensing, their advanced techniques using standard PCR technologies can indicate if fish and invertebrates are being exposed to the future. Careful collections of samples can aid in making these determinations.
5. Timing: cooler winter waters at the time of the crash
Sperm whales
It is common to see pods of mating sperm whales off the coast of Mauritius during mating season in ... [+] GETTY
Compounding all of these factors, Heavy Bunker Fuel evaporates during warmer weather. When there is cooler waters, remnants of Heavy Fuel Oil will remain in the water for much longer. This then contributes toward weathering of the oil.
Mauritius is in the Southern hemisphere. This means Mauritius was going through it’s usual cooler, southern hemisphere winter waters. This is why it was the low season for tourists (independent of Covid-19).
It is during these times that Mauritius experiences its famous major whale migrations of various species that often give birth and mate around the coast of Mauritius. They migrate up to Mauritius from Antarctica each year following an abundant food supply of krill. Mauritius is known for its many whale sightings at this time of year, with iconic species of Humpback Whales, Great Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, among several other whale species. This is an important breeding time for such cetaceans, especially in the cooler waters (Austral Winter).
So this fifth factor creates a particularly toxic combination, more leftover oil in cooler waters, with UV from sunlight weathering what oil remains. The accident could not have happened at a worse time, place and latitude for the rich biodiversity on the coast and in the clear deep ocean off the coast of Mauritius.
Next steps to save nature: sample, sample, sample
Water pollution
Collecting and properly storing samples are critical in the upcoming days, with the right expertise ... [+] GETTY
In order to save nature and restore habitats to their prior conditions, it is important to understand the five phases that an oil spill response will go through. These are listed here. And the factors for compensation are listed here.
In the case of a Heavy Fuel Oil Spill, there are several clear lessons on the oil spill response from the Cosco Busan bunker fuel spill in San Francisco, which remains one of the best studied examples.
Ultimately, a Spill Impact Assessment Report will need to be written. For the Cosco Busan bunker fuel spill, this can still be read online here. This is critical reading for any country that experiences a Heavy Fuel Oil Spill. Whilst there are a lot of deep scientific details, what is clear, was that the entire report revolved around the quality of the sampling.
Hence it is critical to start immediately collecting and documenting specimens of coral, fish and other wildlife at regular (daily) intervals and ensure these are time stamped and geo-tagged. Samples will need to be frozen (ideally at temperatures of -80C) and kept in a locked repository with good security to prove the samples were not tampered with. In many countries, the boxes that samples are stored in are locked, chained and have security cameras on to ensure no tampering, given how critical this evidence is. Without the correct documentation, samples will not be admitted.
Given Mauritius has a large tuna fishing industry and a large offshore aquaculture sector nearby which require large freezing capabilities to permit seafood exports, such facilities should easily allow such samples to be properly collected, labelled, and stored in tamper-proof containers. Also, given that this is currently the low point in the tourist season, there are a significant number of dive center instructors, tour boat operators and local fishermen who could be trained and mobilized in such an effort.
MAURITIUS-ENVIRONMENT-DISASTER-OIL
Just as the mantra for Covid-19 had been ‘test, test, test,’ as Mauritius successfully protected itself from the worst effects, the mantra to address this silent and invisible killer second wave from the oil spill should be ‘sample, sample, sample.’
The cataloguing and chain of custody of the samples are equally important during this process. The US Guide to Sample Preparation and Documentation is one of the best in the world, and contains many templates that are still in use to document samples, such as on Page 23 on NOAA’s Guide to Sample Documentation here. These samples will ultimately be the critical tool for a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), which is conducted at a Federal level in the US and explained here.
Preparing for the worst: hoping for the best
Whilst the entire world hopes for the best recovery of this critical habitat, it is important to start preparing for the worst. This is at least the lesson taught to the entire world from Covid-19, and from Heavy Fuel Oil spills around the world that continue to leak their deadly poison decades later.
As lessons from all major oil spills have shown, the critical actions taken in the early days following a disaster can make all the difference between an ecosystem that does or does not recover. It’s as simple as that.
The Five Factors That Decide How Much Compensation After A Major Oil Spill
Aug 15, 2020,12:00am EDT|2.044 views
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/15/the-five-factors-that-decide-how-much-compensation-after-a-major-oil-spill
Nishan Degnarain
After a series of major maritime incidents last week in the Port of Beirut, off the coast of Mauritius and brewing off the coast of Yemen potentially impacting the entire Red Sea, questions are being asked about what factors go into determining a payout, and who pays.
There are five major factors that usually go into a report. This ultimately helps decide How Much and Who Pays.
1. Event
The first question is what was the cause of the incident and where did the source of the pollutant originate from. In heavily polluted areas, it is hard to determine whether pollution comes from a particular vessel, as there is often several overlapping pollution streams. It is much easier to assess in areas where the waters were already clear, and no other heavy industrial vessels are present. It is then apparent where the source of the oil spill came from.
The US has a library of every chemical signature by vessel and fuel type. Whenever an incident occurs, samples taken from across the extent of the spill are taken and compared against this library to forensically determine the source of the oil (whether from a particular vessel or other existing pre-existing polluting activities).
This is why scientifically cataloging, geo-locating, documenting and securely storing samples are vital in the early days following a spill.
2. Pathway
In some cases, this evidence may come from satellite imagery, especially Synthetic Aperture Radar, that can often pick up the extent of the spill that may be missed by the naked eye. Such satellite tracking can then follow the pathway of the pollution and become critical evidence during any arbitration.
However, satellite tracking is not sufficient alone. The most robust way to assess the pathway of pollution is through robust and comprehensive sampling, cataloging, securely storing samples (ideally in -80C conditions), particularly if areas are in hard to reach habitats like amid the root systems of coastal mangrove forests.
3. Exposure
Even if an oil spill occurs in one region, the impact of the incident is often much larger. Fish and other creatures absorb harmful chemicals in their body and transport this to other regions.
Hence it is critical that sampling takes place across as wide an area as possible to capture the extent of the exposure to the polluting incident.
In the case of Heavy Fuel Oil in the tropics, the impact of ultra-violet (UV) light makes this a particularly toxic combination for fragile species and other translucent species that absorbs these chemicals.
4. Injury
The science to assess the extent of injury has advanced significantly in recent years. Since the 1950s, a traditional test was to count the number of dead fish and seabirds - a bio-toxicology test known as LC50 that had been in use since the 1950s). However, science has moved on from this type of testing. As scientists have better understood the impact of toxins like oil and other harmful chemicals (such as PAH from Heavy Fuel Oil) on marine life, more modern assessment tools have been developed to understand ‘sub-lethal impacts.’ This means that whilst the oil spill does not immediately kill species, it could cause a range of longer term, biological complications, such as impacting the ability of species to reproduce, causing new animal diseases such as cancer, impacting fragile nursing ground such as beaches where turtles lay their eggs.
These are some of the hardest parts to diagnose and require world class marine specialists in animal diseases. This was why the case in the Deepwater Horizon case was so strong, leading to the $20 billion payout, much higher than was expected. These experts will vary by species, so a multi-disciplinary team will need to be assembled that understand the biology of each species being impacted (a lot more varied in biodiversity hotspots).
This is where sampling of species and presence (e.g., changes in species population) becomes critical. New technologies, such as San Francisco-based technology company, Saildrone, who works with the US Ocean Agency NOAA and can provide such assessments at a scale and fraction of the cost of traditional human-led methods.
5. Economic Valuation
Once the first four steps of the scientific baseline has been assessed, there is a discussion around what the economic cost is.
This often revolves around several factors:
Loss of livelihoods. Has income to local fishermen, tourism, aquaculture and any supporting businesses such as restaurants, food supply firms, taxi services been impacted.
Industries impacted. Oil spills can often have macroeconomic impacts affecting the entire economy. These effects must be understood.
Human Health. Oil spills are notoriously toxic on human health and can lead to many medical complications for years to come. The estimated costs of supporting any community who become ill, must be calculated.
Impact on Cultural and Historic Heritage. Given that the Wakashio crashed in the midst of one of the most iconic and historic sites of Mauritius is significant, especially as this battle is so famous it is featured in the Arc de Triomphe. The Battle of Grand Port was the most important and defining battle for Mauritius when the country changed hands from French to British control in 1810, and the area is rich with Napoleonic-era wrecks that have laid untouched for over two centuries. Documenting and understand the cultural importance and impact of the spill and wreck on this protected site is important, including any accelerated declines in historic monuments and structures caused by the spill and vessel.
Uniqueness of the nature impacted. It is not just the amount of wildlife impacted, but how unique this nature is. Again, it is not just the initial mortality from the first wave of the event, but understanding any secondary or long term impacts that can only be shown with genetic bio-markers.
Commercial value of the nature impacted. Given that some of this unique nature have important commercial properties useful for future medicines from ocean genomics and industrial processes in the bioeconomy, there is a clear economic loss having had an oil spill over commercially valuable and unique biology.
Functions of the structures impacted (e.g., Coastal Protection). In the case of the great barrier reef of Mauritius around Pointe d’Esny, this provides coastal protection coverage from storm surges, soil erosion and other impacts from the climate change. Any changes or loss of the great barrier reef could have catastrophic impacts on fishing areas, how currents flow within the lagoon and even protection for the Eastern Coast of Mauritius itself. This is significant.
Effectiveness of the cleanup. Where the cleanup operations have not succeeded in removing all traces of the spill, damages and consideration for long term clean up costs must be given.
Other factors. These are just some of several other factors that are taken into account when making a settlement.
It is important to invest the time in such an assessment properly as this could make the difference in the compensation by an order of magnitude (10x). The lessons from how the Cosco Busan Heavy Fuel Oil Spill Impact Assessment was conducted is important. In that incident where 191 metric tons (just under 54,000 gallons) of Heavy Fuel Oil was spilled into the already industrially contaminated San Francisco Bay, the damages awarded was $44m.
Who pays
It is not the shipping line who pays, so the solvency of the shipping line should not matter to any compensation. All major shipping lines pay into a collective insurance coverage that covers catastrophic losses. This used to be run under ITOPF, who were set up in 1967 following the largest oil spill at the time (the Torrey Canyon off the coast of England). The negative publicity following this incident was a catalyst for oil tanker owners to create a voluntary scheme to ensure the compensation was available to those affected by oil pollution. This scheme was set in an agreement known as the Tanker Owners Voluntary Agreement concerning Liability for Oil Pollution (TOVALOP), with ITOPF was originally established to administer this scheme.
A whole constellation of insurers, crash investigators and scientists acting on behalf of the insurance firms may descend onto the scene for the next few weeks, months and years. Sometimes, these organizations may have different incentives than ensuring the best outcome for an impacted country. There have been examples in the past where this has led to the creation of ‘counter-narratives’ to prolong legal action and add confusion to what the true extent of the damage was due to the spill itself.
Lessons from Chagos
In the week when the US sent stealth bombers to its military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia for the first time since 2016, amid rising tensions with China, there may be some important lessons from history.
A hastily signed agreement in 1982 by several of the displaced islanders for what appeared to be significant compensation at the time, led to complications in legal cases three decades later.
It is important that other small island states who may be impacted by industrial accidents caused by large and sophisticated maritime sector companies, learn from the chapters of history, and engage the right expertise early to guide decisionmaking.
Creation of an Independent Environmental Remediation Trust Fund
Whilst the process for compensation may extend for several years in complex situations where the full extent of the environmental impact is not fully understood, it is prudent to start preparing how to receive and administer any funding.
A clear strategic plan and independent governance structure is needed to ensure priorities are set out to restore habitats, safeguard lives and build resilience. Given that the windfall is to restore the livelihoods and environment of a region, the funds essentially have to act as a separate Sovereign Wealth Fund for future generations and not part of the operating budget of the Government of the day. Such a fund may need to be in existence for several decades to come.
Creating such an Environmental Rehabilitation Trust Fund, with clear parameters, transparency, performance metrics, and governance, should ensure that other small islands that fall victim to large scale industrial accidents, can become global icons in how to build back better.
Macron’s Interventions Backfire As Mauritius To Sink The Wakashio In Whale Nursing Grounds
Nishan Degnarain
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/18/macrons-interventions-backfire-as-mauritius-to-sink-the-wakashio-in-whale-nursing-grounds
Aug 18, 2020,06:36am EDT|107.439 views
Local media in Mauritius began reporting on 18 August 2020 that the broken front half of the vessel would be towed 8 miles to the East of the island and sunk.
Prime whale nursing grounds
That location is an area known as a famous nursing ground for whales and their calves, who are in the full swing of their migration from Antarctica in the midst of the Mauritian winter.
It is during these times that Mauritius experiences its famous major whale migrations of various species that often give birth and mate off the coast of Mauritius. They migrate up to Mauritius from Antarctica each year following an abundant food supply of krill. Mauritius is known for its many whale sightings at this time of year, with iconic species of Humpback Whales, Great Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, among several other whale species. This is an important breeding time for such cetaceans, especially in the cooler waters (Austral Winter).
MAURITIUS: A group of sperm whales in the sleeping phase in a position called candle. Sperm whales ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Former President of Mauritius and leading Biodiversity Scientist, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim described the rich waters off the coast of Mauritius. "In surveys conducted between 2009-10, over 1200 sightings of whales were seen, covering 17 different species. During these surveys, there were 8 sightings of the rare Sirenian Dugong Dugon and 586 turtle sighting. This shows marine life off the coast of Mauritius was vibrant and thriving before the Wakashio crash"
Former President of Mauritius, leading biodiversity scientist, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim. CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES
Assessments are still being carried out on any impacts of the heavy fuel oil pollution on whale behavior in the Bay caused by the Wakashio, since it ran aground on Mauritius’ largest living coral reef system 25 days ago.
It is not clear what the impact of the rusting metal of the large vessel would have on the nursing grounds of these whale populations or on the fragile Coral Reef systems along the East shore of the vessel or on French Island, La Reunion, which would be down current of the sunken Wakashio wreck.
The Wakashio was the biggest category of mainstream ocean going vessels in the world - known as a ‘Capesize.’
This category of vessel is so large that it is unable to fit through the Suez Canal, and hence travels around the coast of Mauritius. Of approximately 60,000 large ocean-going vessels, only 500 are Capesize, putting the Wakashio in the top 1% in terms of size of ship in the world.
At 300m in length, the Wakashio was longer than the Titanic and a similar length to a US Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier.
French and Japanese officials did not object to plan
Both French and Japanese officials are present on the ground in Mauritius and appeared to support the decision to dump the hull of the vessel into Mauritian waters at that particular location, despite French expertise in the Indian Ocean with the French colony of La Reunion being a sister island of Mauritius linked along the same underwater volcanic chain.
Vessel owner Nagashiki Shipping Co Ltd has been approached whether they also support the decision to dump the vessel in Mauritian waters at that location.
In a press conference by Sebastien Lecornuu on 17 August, the French Oversea Minister was criticized for not appearing to endorse alternatives to the sinking of the Wakashio in Mauritian waters, that is now causing outrage on social media on the island.
More questions for global shipping
An assessment of satellite weather reports revealed that are no major storms in the region. Once more, important questions are being asked about the global shipping industry, and whether poor regulatory oversight, a lax attitude toward both sustainability and poor ability to monitor safety standards were the main contributors to this disaster, compounded by other clear failures in leadership that appear systemic in nature.
How could a vessel that was only 13 years old, and one of the biggest in the world, could have an accident and sink off the coast in a world class tourist and biodiversity hotspot with the eyes of the world and global experts watching.
Decades of heavy metal pollution if Wakashio is sunk
There has not been a statement about the pollution and heavy metal implications for dumping such a large iron-ore carrying vessel amid grounds which are also bountiful in tuna and other deep ocean marine species.
Mauritian tuna had some of the lowest concentrations of heavy metals than any tuna in the world, compared with the significantly high levels of contaminants within tuna from the East Pacific Ocean. The presence of such metals could have implications for this important industry of Mauritius.
It seems the final chapter of this stricken vessel continues to drag out. Multiple more natural habitats of tuna feeding grounds, whale nursing grounds and the potential impacts of the size of such a large vessel on any of the fragile coral reef systems and marine life that surround the Indian Ocean island as well as on the French Island of La Reunion, into whose direction the ocean currents would also take any pollutants and rust over time.
President Macron’s interventions were welcomed with open arms by the Mauritian people just 10 days ago.
However, it appears the fate of the French President’s Mauritian adventure is likely to go the same way as the Wakashio: beached, broken and sunk.
Dramatic Photos Show Wakashio Being Deliberately Sunk As Mystery Continues Over Final Location
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/25/dramatic-photos-show-wakashio-being-deliberately-sunk-as-mystery-continues-over-final-location
Nishan Degnarain
Aug 25, 2020,12:56am EDT|29.287 views
24 August 2020: photos just released show the forward section of the 300m long Japanese iron ore carrier, The Wakashio - one of the largest vessels in the ocean - being deliberately sunk
Photos released overnight show the dramatic final moments of the forward section of the oil spill vessel, The Wakashio on Monday 24 August 2020. In a series of press releases, the Government of Mauritius revealed that the operation to deliberately sink the forward section of the Wakashio was finally completed on 24 August, having had to be paused the previous day due to weather conditions.
It is now 30 days since the Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned vessel, hit the pristine coral reefs of Mauritius amid a network of national parks after carrying an almost full tank of over 1 million gallons of heavy engine oil. In the subsequent efforts to clean up the spill, the vessel split in two and the oil slick spread to ten times its original size within 5 days, spreading 14 miles North along the coast given the strong winds in that location. On Friday 21 August, the UN satellites revealed that over 30km of Mauritius’ beaches, mangroves and coastlines were ‘heavily impacted.’
24 August 2020: dramatic final photos as the bow of Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned MV Wakashio can be seen rising several meters high in the air over the blue waters of what is believed to be the Indian Ocean
Mystery location - why the secrecy?
Despite seven official Government press releases between Tuesday 18 August - when the Wakashio was first first dragged off the coral reefs - and Monday 24 August - when the bow finally sunk under water - not one of the press releases revealed any co-ordinates or location of the final sinking of the vessel. This has made it impossible to independently verify the location of the sinking, despite media pressure for this location.
At a time when trust in the authorities is at an all time low, following repeated assurances at every stage of the grounding that things were under control, civil society remain angry with the secretive decision to sink the forward section of the Wakashio without a full exploration of all other options.
In a statement on Friday 19 August, Greenpeace Africa’s Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, Happy Khambule, had strongly criticized the decision to sink the Wakashio, saying, “Out of all available options, the Mauritian government is choosing the worst one. Sinking this vessel would risk biodiversity and contaminate the ocean with large quantities of heavy metal toxins, threatening other areas as well, notably the French island of La Réunion. Mauritians had nothing to gain from the MV Wakashio crossing their waters and are now asked to pay the price of this disaster. More pollution further risks their tourist-based economy and fish-based food security.”
24 August 2020: the front section of the Wakashio sinks beneath the clean blue ocean as it is deliberately sunk
Cause of initial Wakashio incident still unknown
This secrecy over the final location of the sinking adds further intrigue and mystery to the Wakashio, whose cause of the intial incident is still unknown and subject to significant speculation on Mauritius.
In a statement to Forbes on 23 August, by the owners of the vessel, Nagashiki Shipping, said that “the exact cause of the grounding is under investigation and Nagashiki Shipping is co-operating fully with the relevant authorities in this ongoing investigation but in order to avoid any speculation the exact cause of the incident is not yet known.”
24 August 2020: several holds in the Wakashio were flooded to sink the vessel as the ship's helipad could be visibly seen before the vessel started to sink vertically.
Role of France?
In a contradictory set of statements last week, the role of France was placed under further scrutiny in the operation. The Mauritian Minister for the Environment, Kavydass Ramano, acknowledged the reservations held by visiting French Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, about the sinking of the forward section of the vessel.
In a statement to Mauritian parliament on 18 August, the Mauritian Environment Minister said, “The Minister [Sébastien Lecornu] expressed concerns on the disposal of the forward section of the vessel. In that respect, he dispatched three experts from Cedre and Cellule Anti-Pollution, who were in Mauritius yesterday.”
Yet in a statement released at the same time by the Mauritian National Crisis Committee, the Government revealed, “The scuttling position and conditions are in conformity with the advice of the French experts present in Mauritius.”
23 August 2020: in photos released by the Government of Mauritius, the final preparations to scuttle the Wakashio can be seen with two support vessels and aircraft support
Six days of ‘cat and mouse’ across the ocean
The secretive mission to sink the front of the Wakashio had been captured overhead by satellite since the vessel was split in two on 15 August, and was towed away from Mauritius’ barrier reef off the coast of Point d’Esny in the island’s South East corner.
Despite six days of towing the vessel, the Governments of Mauritius, France and Japan, who were all involved in the decision and operation to sink the Wakashio, the vessel owners, Nagashiki Shipping, the global shipping regulator, UN agency International Maritime Organization who were all on site in Mauritius and also responsible for maritime pollution (called Marpol), all remained tight lipped about the final destination or co-ordinates of the vessel.
This is at a time when the world is aware of the need for stronger action against climate change, biodiversity protection and protection of the ocean. Each of these organizations had made bold statements about the need to restore ocean health as part of UN SDG14, however, their actions reveal radically different intentions than their words.
The South Easterly Direction
16 August to 19 August 2020: track taken by two support vessels Malta-flagged Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, who appear to be towing the front section of the Wakashio in a South Easterly direction
16 August to 19 August 2020: track taken by two support vessels Malta-flagged Boka Summit and Boka ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
Four parts of the Wakashio operation
While the front half of the vessel now remains under water, attention turns to the three other parts of the ongoing cleanup and rehabilitation operation:
The rear of the vessel remains stuck on the reef with 7000 gallons of diesel oil still on board
The cleanup of the oil on the beach still needs to begin, amid growing uncertainty over what forms of cleanup technique will be deployed. In many parts of the world, harmful chemical dispersants ended up having a more damaging impact than the oil spill itself, especially given the very sensitive marine environment around Mauritius’ pristine coral reefs.
The scientific baseline to help establish the plan for rehabilitation of this once pristine region of the country. Again, the secretive nature of the data collection and scientific approach has caused significant disquiet among a population who have been calling for transparency and honesty from the outset.
As corporate actors present also get drawn into the net of secrecy around the cleanup operation, the Wakashio is fast becoming a Business Case study on what not to do following a major industrial accident
Aug 28, 2020,12:01am EDT|4.811 views
Oil Spill August: What Two Major Oil Spills In Venezuela And Mauritius Now Mean For The World
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/28/oil-spill-august-what-the-major-oil-spills-in-venezuela-and-mauritius-mean-for-the-world
Nishan Degnarain
August has been a very bad month for the ocean, having been battered by oil spills, explosions, and poorly regulated shipping.
While the eyes of the world were first shocked by the explosion on 4 August in Beirut Port from poorly stored Ammonium Nitrate being carried by a Moldovan-flagged vessel, and then the massive oil spill on 6 August in Mauritius by a Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned iron ore ship that split apart against a coral lagoon, Venezuela was experiencing its own major oil spill which officials first started detecting on 2 August.
It was a bunker fuel oil spill (same as Mauritius) and has now been estimated at being twice the size as the one in Mauritius. The cause was not immediately obvious and satellite data suggests the leak either came from a Portugal-flagged vessel or an oil pipeline close to a petroleum hub in the region.
Venezuela, Falcon, Morrocoy National Park, one of islands which are part of protected wilderness area, aerial view
Venezuela, Falcon, Morrocoy National Park, one of islands which are part of protected wilderness ... [+] DE AGOSTINI VIA GETTY IMAGES
It was also in a pristine protected National Park, full of coral reefs, mangrove forests and turtle nesting grounds. This is the second time Venezuela has experienced a major oil spill in the last year, following over 1500 miles of Brazil’s beaches experiencing over 2000 tons of heavy engine oil in September. That spill was suspected to come from a Greek-flagged vessel, which, incidentally also uses shipping lanes close to Mauritius. At the time, it was shown that 600 tons of oil could easily be leaked within 30 minutes of a ship transfer gone wrong.
What do we know about the Venezuela Oil Spill, and in what way is was it similar to the oil spill faced by Mauritius?
Here are seven similarities.
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, the oil spill occurred in the midst of what were supposed to be highly protected national parks. In both Mauritius and Venezuela, these parks contain a rich variety of biodiversity and a range of different coastal ecosystems - protected coral reefs, mangrove forests that are breeding grounds for reef fish, sandy beaches that are habitats and nesting grounds for turtles.
Venezuela’s Oil Spill leak occurred in Morrocoy National Park in the North West of the country. The Wakashio vessel oil spill in Mauritius occurred amid a network of internationally protected coral and mangrove reserves in Pointe d’Esny in the South East of the country, which was also home to rearing efforts of some of the rarest plants, birds, lizards, and butterflies on the planet.
It showed that while many Governments have announced protected areas on paper, they have not put in place the enforcement mechanisms to protect these areas from large, industrial disasters.
Both Mauritius and Venezuela were bunker fuel oil spills, rather than crude oil spills (like Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon). This means they may be smaller in volume but could become a lot more toxic in sunnier environments due to the effect of the sun’s ultra-violet light on this heavy engine oil, turning it into an invisible, deadly chemical killer. Secretive clean up efforts in many cases have resulted in outcomes worse than the initial oil spill by using chemical dispersants that harm the extremely fragile ocean microbiome, particularly around delicate coral reef systems (because of the way the cleanup was approached, Venezuela estimates the effects could last as long as 50 years).
In Mauritius’ case, it was clear that the oil came from the Wakashio vessel as this fuel type was not used to fuel any vessels in the lagoon previously. However, in Venezuela’s case, it took a little detective work to figure out the source - despite Government claims the source was from a vessel, the local university showed
Philippine Coastguard personnels aboard
The use of spray oil dispersant chemicals have been found to be even more destructive on life in the ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
through chemical analysis that the source could be from the petrochemical hub centered around the ‘El Palito’ refinery. From satellite calculations, the stain of 7.6 km long by 1.5 km wide corresponded to a spill of 26,730 barrels of oil.
When asked about the effect of Bunker Fuel (VLSFO) in the long term over delicate coral ecosystems, the UN agency responsible global shipping admitted it did not know the long term implications of such fuels in fragile coral reef ecosystems.
On 19 August 2020, an IMO spokesperson said "because this fuel is so new, research has only just been initiated on its fate and behavior in the environment, particularly over a longer period. It’s really the longer term fate and effects that are not yet known."
Yet, the IMO has sent experts specifically to advise on the clean up operations, raising greater concerns if the wrong approach to the clean up is taken that could cause even greater long term harm than the oil spill itself.
3. Satellites detected the spills
15 August 2020: Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar allows bunker fuel spills to be more effectively identified than through optical satellites alone
15 August 2020: Satellite analysis using synthetic aperture radar allows bunker fuel spills to be ... [+] URSA SPACE SYSTEMS / ICEYE
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, satellites were the critical technology to help understand the spread and impact. While optical satellites only revealed the more concentrated dark patches of oil, it was the new technologies of Synthetic Aperture Radar, such as provided by Finish company Iceye and Ursa Space Systems, that was able to reveal the extent of the spread across the East Coast of Mauritius and into the protected areas of Blue Bay Marine Park and 14 miles North to Ile aux Cerfs (2 miles from where 18 dolphins were found dead on 26 August).
In Venezuela’s case, a large patch of dark oil could be seen from satellites. Using AIS tracking correlated with the spread of the spill, some commentators were able to identify the vessels that had been close to the area when the oil appeared. However, upon further investigation, it appeared that the oil leaked from a refinery on the coast linked to the state-run oil company PDVSA, that had been heavily criticized in the past.
4. Volume of the spill
Workers collect leaked oil at the beach in Riviere des Creoles on August 15, 2020, due to the oil ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, officials had tried to state that the volume of oil spilled was relatively small (in Venezuela’s case, it was claimed that the authorities and oil company only started paying attention to the spill 22 days after the leak happened). The Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences Academy (ACFIMAN) and the Engineering and Habitat Academy (ANIH) said in a statement on August 20th that “The procedures that the company implemented showed the precariousness of the equipment and personnel with scarce training and knowledge to respond to the magnitude of the damaged caused… The delayed and precarious response of PDVSA and the Ministry of Environment, the MINEC, and the silence of the prosecutor’s office and ombudsman demonstrate again the level of deinstitutionalization of the country.”
A variety of confusing communication terms was used in Mauritius, such as only referring to the oil spill using a weight measurement (in metric tons) of the leaked oil, rather than the conventional volume measurements for oil spills (gallons and barrels).
In Venezuela, it is now estimated that 26,730 barrels were leaked at the end of July. This is higher than the amount of barrels estimated to have been leaked from Mauritius (7000), although this figure is from 11 August (16 days ago) when over 15,000 barrels remained on board, and even though more oil could be seen leaking, the final number in the coral lagoon still has not been disclosed.
In Venezuela 15 km of coastline had been impacted compared with UN estimates of 30 km in Mauritius. These are critical habitats for a variety of wildlife.
5. Governments downplaying the true impact of the spill
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu (L) and Mauritius's Minister of Environment, Solid Waste ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Both Venezuela and Mauritius’ Government’s responses have been heavily criticized. First, both have tried to underplay the incident. In Venezuela officials repeatedly claimed they had the situation under control.
In Mauritius, the Government reassured the population that there was no risk when the single-hub vessel had spent 12 days on Mauritian’ reefs, dragging by over 1 km, then as oil spilled into the lagoon, the population were told it was a small leak, then the vessel split in two on 15 August and was deliberately sunk in the coral lagoon on 24 August, to the consternation of the entire population who then started seeing dozens of dead dolphins appear on their beaches, and are now organizing national protests on Saturday 29 August.
Both Venezuela and Mauritius did not disclose the amount of oil that was leaked - it took external validation and satellites to prove the impact was. Such secretive approaches ended up backfiring with environmental non profit groups.
6. Declaring victory too soon
Both Venezuela and Mauritian Governments have tried to declare victory too quickly. The focus had been on ending visual pollution, but by using chemical dispersants, this could have extended length of time the impact would now have.
In Venezuela’s case, scientists have warned that it will take over 50 years to restore its habitat. In Mauritius, the lack of transparency surrounding the science being done has meant that the science has been politicized (for example, at a press conference on 26 Aug attended by the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Govt sponsored NGOs and international specialists, it was announced that the cause of 18 dolphin deaths was not due to the oil spill or sinking of the vessel before an autopsy could even be performed).
What citizens need in a crisis is the constant drip of reliable information and transparency, in order to build trust.
7. Secretive and bodged oil spill cleanup
In both Mauritius and Venezuela, there has been growing concern about the use of chemical clean up agents along with some very protected areas of coastline. Such chemicals (called dispersants) break down the oil into visible particles that become easier to be absorbed by marine creatures and corals (a process called increasing bio-availability). This means that the effects could be a lot more toxic, and the process of spreading harsh chemicals along delicate beaches, mangroves, and corals would do untold damage to ecosystems facing the pressures from climate change, oil spill, and now a major chemical cleanup operation.
8. Ongoing risks
Concentrated shipping lanes around Maracaibo Lake in Venezuela as 1.3m barrels in a broken down ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Even though the focus had been on Venezuela’s oil spill, another massive oil tanker was at risk of collapsing off the coast of Venezuela with 1.3 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Paria, risking the entire Venezuela Coast and Caribbean islands.
In Mauritius, whilst the operation was still ongoing to remove the rear of the Wakashioa off the coral lagoon, another massive Marshall-islands flagged vessel broke down 300 miles North of Mauritius.
These root causes of safety in the global shipping industry have never been fully addressed, raising the question whether the next accident is just a matter of when, not if.
A strong international call for change
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion climate action group protest outside the International ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
At the same time as both countries were facing an outcry from environmental organizations within their countries, global NGOs had started to step up their fight against Big Oil and Global Shipping.
Greenpeace has issued a series of stern letters against the operators of the shipping company and salvage operation, calling for an international investigation into the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio.
Environmental NGO WWF has also called for leaders to look at the regulations surrounding how global shipping is regulated and calling for influential leaders to step up their support for reform.
This comes as a new petition for change in the Global Shipping industry has gone to leaders of the G20, calling for change. In this petition, four asks are made:
A call to end ‘Flags of Convenience’ (such as the Moldova-flagged vessel involved in Beirut, the Panama-flagged vessel in Mauritius, and a new Marshall Islands-flagged vessel has broken down 300 miles North of Mauritius, as the wreck of the Wakashio is still being removed).
A call to ban fossil fuels from ships (the shipping industry notoriously excluded themselves from the Paris Agreement and subsequent industry-self regulation has been heavily criticized as greenwashing with weak targets that rely on self-reporting).
A call to to ban single hull vessels immediately (the risks in Mauritius would have been avoided had the heavy engine fuel been contained in a double hulled vessels as global shipping had been asked to do following Exxon Valdez and which was about to be announced after 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay, until lobbying from global shipping companies softened those rules).
Safer habitats for large marine mammals (such as whales and dolphins) that could be achieved by reducing whale strikes in whale nursing grounds, avoiding such whale nursing grounds or slow steaming through, reducing the sound of vessel engines on ocean mammals, and setting up a proper global monitoring of the habitats and migration patterns of all major marine mammals.
For too long, the global shipping industry has operated under the cover of darkness. With the fate of 150 million in the Red Sea dependent on the safe removal of oil from one vessel off the coast of Yemen, two national governments on the brink of collapsing in Lebanon and Mauritius over their handling of what started as shipping crises, and another major oil spill in an important national park, the shipping industry (and associated supporting industries such as marine insurance companies, oil companies, salvage operators, oil clean up specialists, and even the global shipping regulator, the IMO) have been shown to be out of touch with the direction of the world economy, global consciousness and a younger generation who is calling for cleaner, greener, safer transport options around the world.
If these industries are unable to show the ambitious changes needed on their own, it appears from Lebanon and Mauritius, that change may be imposed on them whether they like this or not. It is the only moral response acceptable, given the scale of the ecological and human tragedy in each of the four regions that have been affected these past 2 months.
Mauritius Sees Popular Protests Over Handling Of The Wakashio Oil Spill And Whale Deaths
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/29/mauritius-sees-popular-protests-over-handling-of-the-wakashio-oil-spill-and-whale-deaths/?sh=3e22c62f5253
Nishan Degnarain
29 August 2020:
Thousands took to the streets of the Mauritian capital, Port Louis, on Saturday to express their frustration with the handling and secrecy surrounding the Wakashio oil spill. The UK’s Independent newspaper reported that one in ten on the island - over 100,000 - had turned out in protest.
Yesterday, the Minister of Maritime Affairs revealed that 39 whales and dolphins had been confirmed dead on the island, better known internationally as a paradise wedding and honeymoon destination.
Protests are relatively rare on the island, and the size of Saturday’s protests reflected the anger and solidarity felt over how the natural environment in the relatively undeveloped South and East of the island had been impacted by the oil spill and subsequent salvage operation.
Tropical atoll island and coral reef, aerial view, Mauritius
View of Ile aux Aigrettes island in the turquoise lagoon, Pointe d'Esny, Mahebourg, prior to the oil ... [+] GETTY
Mauritius is highly dependent on tourism, fisheries and its natural environment (particularly the coral reef systems that act as a natural barrier to coastal erosion), and all three had been strongly impacted by the oil spill and subsequent salvage operation. This has compounded the pressures the country was facing with the coronavirus pandemic impacting global travel and tourism.
Anger had risen over the past three days as images and videos of dead or suffering marine mammals have circulated on social media, leaving islanders feeling frustrated as their efforts had been sidelined in favor of anonymous international specialists who have not been held accountable for the decisions being taken that are impacting the lives of many in the region as well as the many years of rehabilitation work now needed to repair the damage.
Mauritius has always had a strong relationship with nature, with many national parks, protected areas, rare species breeding programs, and tourist activities that involve watching wild dolphins but carefully regulating any interactions that may domesticate them.
Expressions of international support
29 August 2020: Mauritian diaspora around the world gathered to show solidarity with the environment and protest at what has been a relatively weak response until now
29 August 2020: Mauritian diaspora around the world gathered to show solidarity with the environment ... [+] PHOTO: ALEX AUDIBERT
Earlier on Saturday, the large Mauritian diaspora had also joined in peaceful protests around the world to show solidarity with dramatic images over the past 35 days showing the impact of the grounding and subsequent oil spill.
Amid protests wearing Covid-19 protective masks, hundreds of protestors had turned out in cities around the world to express the strength of their feelings, in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the UK.
Most protestors had adopted the color black, to symbolize the impact of the oil on the usually turquoise blue waters of the coral lagoon. Drone footage overhead captured the size of the crowd, which appeared to be one of the largest public gatherings since independence in 1968 from the UK.
In what was a sunny day, the mood was largely celebratory and images of the day showed many inflatable dolphins being held aloft in support and memory of the 39 that had died to date.
Calls for a public inquiry
29 August 2020: one of the largest crowds since Mauritius attained independence had gathered in the capital city Port Louis, and peacefully marched to express their frustration with the handling of the Wakashio oil spill
The centerpiece of the day had been a series of speeches by maritime security expert, Bruneau Laurette, who has rapidly emerged as the face of a new movement calling for justice and sustainability, and has been calling for an open public inquiry into the events surrounding the grounding of the Wakashio.
In a series of presentations using satellite analysis on the main stage, he raised questions about the movements and activities of the support vessels to the Wakashio, that he had first raised in a highly viewed local television broadcast.
The cause of the grounding of the Wakashio has not yet been revealed, although the captain of the vessel has been arrested. He has not yet made a comment.
Second major crisis triggered by a shipping incident
This is the second time in a month that a Government has been shocked by protests following a major shipping incident.
Following the 4 August explosion in the Port of Beirut that caused an estimated $15 billion of damages, citizens quickly turned on the Government following years of poor governance of public institutions.
French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier tried to intervene in Beirut (as well as Mauritius), but received a hostile reception from a population expressing their frustration and anger with their local leaders.
The Cabinet of Lebanon subsequently resigned 6 days after the explosion amid mounting public anger.
In a press conference on Friday 28 August, officials in Mauritius had confirmed that many of the dead species on Mauritian beaches were Melon-headed whales.
These species are found primarily in deep, tropical waters. They are social animals and occur in groups of hundreds of individuals.
According to NOAA, Melon-headed whales also maintain a matrilineal social structure where females remain in groups with their mothers and sisters, and it is the males that move between groups. It is estimated that Melon-headed whales can live until 45 years old, and can grow to 9 feet long.
In the US, their populations are monitored in stock assessments conducted every four years, and they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act like all marine mammals.
The biggest threats facing Melon-headed whales around the world are accidentally getting caught in tuna fishing nets, increasing ocean noise, and marine pollution, especially heavy metal and man-made chemicals. Concentrations of chemicals such as perfluorocarbons and flame retardants have increased over time in whales and concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in Melon-headed whales in Hawaii and Japan are at levels thought to cause toxic effects. Such chemicals had been banned as refrigerants in the late 1970s, but continue to have long lasting impacts in the marine environment.
Was The Deliberate Sinking Of The Mauritius Oil Spill Vessel, Wakashio, An International Crime?
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/29/was-the-deliberate-sinking-of-the-oil-spill-vessel-wakashio-an-international-crime-heres-what-the-law-says/
Aug 29, 2020,11:59pm EDT|52.556 views
Nishan Degnarain
On Monday 24 August 2020, the front section of the 300-meter-long iron-ore transporter, the Wakashio, was deliberately sunk, as dramatic video was released of the sinking with cheering heard in the background. This follows a month of the ship being grounded on the reefs of Mauritius and the vessel splitting in two on 15 August.
Despite an operation to tow the front half of the vessel since half past midnight on Wednesday 19 August, 10 days later (29 August), there has still been no public disclosure of the location of the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio (although satellites have been able to ascertain the direction of travel).
Government statements have said that the vessel was sunk in waters that were 2000 meters deep (although there has been no independent verification). This would mean the pressure at the bottom would be 200 atmospheres (or 200 times the pressure at the surface). This would result in any remnants or traces of toxic materials on the vessel being squeezed out like ketchup from a bottle, given the pressure at such depths. This is why both the materials on the vessel and location are so critical to understand the potential impact on the marine environment.
Two days after the sinking of the forward section of the Wakashio, 18 dolphins and whales washed up dead on the shores of Mauritius on Wednesday 26 August 2020. By Friday 29 August, 39 dolphins and Melon-headed whales had died and video taken by local journalists around the lagoons of Mauritius revealed that many more dolphins and whales were clearly distressed. The mammal autopsy results have not yet been publicly released.
28 August 2020: video shot by local journalist Reuben Pillay reveal many dolphins and whales suffering in the Bays of Mauritius, including pregnant whales and juveniles who stay along the Mauritian coast at this time of year to give birth
28 August 2020: video shot by local journalist Reuben Pillay reveal many dolphins and whales ... [+] VIDEO: REUBEN PILLAY
As thousands of citizens of Mauritius marched in protest on Saturday demanding greater transparency and accountability over the handling of the Wakashio grounding, oil spill and salvage operation, questions are also being asked about the decision to sink the Wakashio, when weather conditions at the time of the sinking reveal calm oceans and clear skies.
As organizations like Greenpeace also question the legality of the deliberate sinking of the Wakashio, there are three important questions to ask:
What international laws could have been broken?
Which courts would have jurisdiction?
Who was responsible?
Let’s look at each in turn.
Regulations governing dumping of vessels at sea
The main body of law governing pollution at sea is called Marpol (short for Maritime Pollution), and is a body of law that was adopted by the UN shipping regulator, London-based International Maritime Organization. These laws were adopted in 1979 in response to environmental pressure due to the widespread practice of dumping waste in the ocean at that time.
There are six main chapters within this body of law covering different aspect of pollution from shipping (e.g., oil pollution, chemical pollution, sewage, cargo, air pollution). Annex 5 - which came into force in 1988 - deals with pollution associated with garbage, which dumping a vessel and any materials on board would constitute.
The UN Agency responsible for global shipping and maritime pollution is London-based International Maritime Organisation (the IMO).
The UN Agency responsible for global shipping and maritime pollution is London-based International ... [+] PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
In addition, there are several separate bodies of law under the IMO, as well as agreements under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, that may need to be looked at with a vessel situation as complex as the Wakashio. This includes individual bodies of law that govern Ballast Water Pollution, Regulations on Anti-fouling Materials used on vessel hulls, and guidance on the Environmentally Sound Recycling of Vessels.
In short, there are many well documented international laws and norms governing the deliberate sinking of any vessel that could have been violated.
There are reasons these laws have been developed, and very clear guidance and protocols that need to be followed for any decision to scuttle a vessel, that has not been inventoried and cleaned. Let’s look at some of the main risks.
1. Ballast Water and risk of invasive species
Scuba diver spears an invasive lionfish
A scuba diver has shot an lion fish in an attempt to control this invasive species spread across the ... [+] GETTY IMAGES
Ballast water is one of the biggest risks to life in the ocean. This is the water used to stabilize vessels. It is critical to the operation of any vessel that varies the load it is carrying, but as vessels have become larger, the risks that ballast water entails have increased, posing serious ecological, economic and health risks due to the multitude of marine species carried in ships’ ballast water.
Ballast water – which is often filled from one location and transported to another somewhere else in the world – is often full of bacteria, microbes, small invertebrates, eggs, cysts and larvae of various species that are not native to the location the vessel is travelling to.
There are much stricter international laws concerning the uptake and disposal of ballast water that could be harmful for the marine environment around the world if it is not filtered for invasive species, many of which could be microscopic to the human eye.
Since 2017, new international laws entered force concerning the uptake and disposal of ballast water ... [+] GETTY
The transferred species may survive to establish a reproductive population in the host environment, becoming invasive, out-competing native species and multiplying into pest proportions or causing marine disease. Harm caused by ocean-born invasive species include cholera, water flea, toxic algae.
The spread of invasive species is now recognized as one of the greatest threats to the ecological, and the economic well-being of the planet. These species are causing enormous damage to biodiversity. Direct and indirect health effects are becoming increasingly serious and the damage to the environment is often irreversible.
A new international treaty to govern the safe use of ballast water came into force in 2017, called the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM).
Journalists have approached the owner of the Wakashio, Nagashiki Shipping, for details of the volume of ballast water being carried by the Wakashio at the time of the grounding, details of the operation to pump any water from the vessel prior to scuttling, details of where the ballast water had already been collected from to assess any marine disease risk, as well as details for how any ballast water collected from the Wakashio was safely disposed of. There has not yet been a response, when much of this information should be available at a click of the button and is required to be carried by the vessel as per the 2017 laws.
2. Industrial cargo residue
21 August 2020: reddish water from residue sediment can clearly be seen in the hold of the Wakashio, in footage shot by officials on 21 August as the Wakashio was getting prepared to be scuttled.
21 August 2020: reddish water from residue sediment can clearly be seen in the hold of the Wakashio, ... [+] MAURITIUS BROADCASTING CORPORATION
The residue of industrial cargo could contain harmful toxins, given the pressures at which the vessels are being sunk. There are strict regulations to inventory and disclose the materials on board the vessel. Annually, for the over 9.5 billion tons of bulk cargo goods transported across the ocean, over 2 million tons enter the oceans, with 100,000 tons being potentially harmful to the marine environment, according to the IMO.
As could be seen from video released of the operation to flood the hold of the Wakashio starting 21 August, there was clearly cargo residue on the vessel that turned the water a murky color. While the vessel was an iron-ore bulk carrier, it was not clear whether toxicology tests had been taken of this residue.
Residue from iron ore has been a particular focus of several organizations. There are IMO guidelines on the implementation of Marpol Annex V, including the adoption of OECD standards needed to conduct such tests. Failing to conduct these tests at OECD standards could put the vessel in violation of the complex P&I rules that govern the vessel insurance.
3. Recycling of ships
Chemicals and heavy metals leach from a large vessel being dismantled at Pakistan's Geddani ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
There are strict rules to prevent the discarding of vessels in the ocean (just like abandoning a car in a forest is banned), there are strong measures to encourage the circular economy and recycling of all parts of a ship including the three aspects of the vessel to look at: materials contained in ship structure or equipment, waste from vessel operations, waste from the stores. These categories of waste are well defined and there is a five step process to ensure the appropriate procedures have been followed, namely: 1. collection of the necessary information, 2. assessment of collected information, 3. preparation of visual or sampling check plan, 4. onboard visual check and sampling check, 5. preparation of inventory documentation and related documentation. These are clearly defined responsibilities of the shipowner.
Checking the materials used in the vessel construction should be based on the Material Declaration given by the suppliers in the shipbuilding supply chain (e.g. equipment suppliers, parts suppliers, material suppliers).
With a strong focus on environmental sustainability around the world, after several high profile stories about the end of life of vessels, the shipping industry has recently been moving toward the circular economy and recycling of materials. With a vessel the size of the Wakashio – in the top 1% of all vessel in the world - there were sizable quantities of various materials that could have been reused.
Ship breaking laborers working at Sitakundo ship breaking...
Laborers breaking on an iron ore vessel - similar to the Wakashio - at a shipyard in Bangladesh. ... [+] LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
One of the other risks of sinking a vessel without fully understanding all the components that went into the construction of the vessel is the risk over many decades as the outer layers start to disintegrate. In the tropical reefs of the Pacific Ocean just South of Hawaii, many wrecks had to be removed at significant cost decades after being sunk due to the contamination caused to local marine habitats.
Those were vessels one-tenth the size of the Wakashio, and there has still been no public release of this information from local authorities or the owners of the Wakashio, even though this information should have been available at a click of a button from the shipbuilder, Universal Shipping of Kawasaki in Japan.
After four years of work, in May 2009, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted the Hong Kong Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. There are clear guidelines on the protocols that must be followed in the disposal of any vessel at sea, including clear inventories of all environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances and others.
4. Harmful anti-fouling systems
Large amounts of anti-fouling paint is required for large vessels to prevent the build up of living ... [+] VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES
Anti-fouling systems are systems (usually paints but other physical techniques can be used as well) that prevent the growth of algae and barnacles on the underside of vessels. Such growth slows the vessel and makes transportation a lot more fuel intensive.
However, the side effect of anti-fouling systems is that they use several toxic chemicals. As these chemicals break up in the marine environment over time, they can cause additional harm. Examples include harmful organotin compounds in anti-fouling paints used on ships. In July 2017 controls on cybutryne were also restricted in anti-fouling paints when the IMO revealed that scientific data presented indicated that cybutryne causes significant adverse effects to the marine environment.
There is an entire body of law that governs the use and disposal of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships. This is called the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, and was adopted on 5 October 2001, coming into force on 17 September 2008, and governed by the IMO.
These are just some of the strict environmental laws designed to protect life in the ocean, as the ocean faces unprecedented pressures of climate change, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction, amid fears of a large ocean deoxygenation event occurring.
Which international court?
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rules on cases covering laws of the sea. Seen ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Although the IMO is the body responsible for setting the standards of these laws, there are several other international courts that make judgements against whether such laws have been broken.
An important court of jurisdiction in this case is the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which has several examples of cases of maritime pollution brought there.
There may also be many provisions in domestic law that had been violated with the decision to deliberately sink the Wakashio in the location decided upon, without following many of the well defined procedures that had been designed to protect the environment.
Who is responsible?
August 16, 2020, shows the MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and broke into two parts ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The responsibility of the decision to sink the Wakashio will be the subject of strong scrutiny. There are at least eight parties known to be involved with the Wakashio in the run up to the decision to sink the vessel.
a) Government of Mauritius
Mauritius's Minister of Environment, Kavydass Ramano speaks at a press conference on the Wakashio, ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Government of Mauritius had an important role to play. In a statement issued by Nagashiki Shipping to Forbes on 25 August, Nagashiki Shipping was very clear under whose guidance they had been operating.
“At approximately 0030 hrs, local time on Aug 19, the forward section of the hull was successfully re-floated and towed offshore to an area designated by the authorities. After that, they moved to the sea area designated by the Mauritius authorities to sink the hull and started work at 2100 hrs, local time, Aug 21. At 1500 hrs, local time, Aug 24, the front part of the hull was submerged and allowed to sink in the designated sea area of Mauritian territorial waters, in accordance with the instructions of the authorities.”
A level of detail within the Government may extend to which Department or Ministry may have been responsible and what was the legal basis of any decision (e.g., a collective Cabinet decision).
In addition, the monitoring, compliance and enforcement of MARPOL falls to Governments. IMO has been given a role to carry out audits of Member States since 2016.
b) The flag state, Panama
The Wakashio was flagged in Panama, which has responsibilities to ensure compliance to Marpol. The ... [+] GETTY
As the vessel was Panama-flagged there are clear responsibilities for flag states that are set out by the IMO. Flag States (the State of registry of a ship) and port States have rights and responsibilities to enforce compliance.
Questions will be raised around the role of Panama Maritime Authority in its role in monitoring and enforcing compliance of Marpol, given that the Wakashio fell under its jurisdiction.
c) France
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu wears a protective mouth and nose mask as he attends a ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Following the visit of French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornuu on 17 August, the Government of Mauritius issued a press release on 19 August 2020, in which they revealed, “The scuttling position and conditions are in conformity with the advice of the French experts present in Mauritius.”
It was unclear whether these were the experts brought in by the Government of France or French representatives of the cleanup companies. Questions will now be asked about the documentation and role of the French experts brought in by the Government to influence such a decision to sink the Wakashio when other more sustainable options were available.
d) Malta
The two supporting vessels, Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, were flagged to Malta. View of ... [+] GETTY
In a statement on 19 August, Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace Japan revealed that the two support vessels behind the towing operations, Boka Summit and Boka Expedition, were Malta-flagged. This meant that as Malta was party to Marpol regulations, these vessels would also be subject to this law too.
In an open letter to the authorities of Malta on 25 August, Greenpeace made inquiries into what actions Malta was now taking to look into the decision to deliberately sink the Wakashio and whether these Marpol regulations had been violated. No response has yet been received.
e) Japan
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is one of the world's largest shipping companies. It is a Japanese transport ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Wakashio was a vessel built in Japan, owned by a major Japanese shipping company and operated by a Japanese shipping line. It had never been to Panama.
The Japanese Government has sent six experts to Mauritius since 19 August. It was unclear what their roles and responsibilities had been toward the salvage operation, decision to sink the Wakashio and potential impact on the marine environment.
g) The IMO
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion climate action group protest outside the International ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The UN global shipping regulator, the IMO was established to adopt legislation and Governments are responsible for implementing them.
When a Government accepts an IMO Convention it agrees to make it part of its national law and to enforce all of the provisions contained therein. There are clear demarcations of the responsibilities and functions of the IMO and the functions of States.
Some of the IMO’s conventions have been criticized as being too weak, and this could open up greater criticism of IMO standards if the sinking of the Wakashio was permitted under IMO regulations.
However, in the case of Mauritius and the decision to sink the Wakashio, the issue is more nuanced. An IMO specialist had been deployed by the IMO to advise the Government of Mauritius specifically on any operations related to the leaking oil. His mandate – agreed between the IMO and the Government of Mauritius, and confirmed by a spokesperson at the IMO – did not extend to advising the Government of Mauritius on any aspect of the salvage operation that did not involve the oil spill.
Despite repeated questions to the IMO on the specific role and advice provided by the IMO representative on the ground with relation to the decision to sink the Wakashio, no answer has been forthcoming, raising questions whether the IMO itself could be liable for influencing the decision to sink the Wakashio against laws and standards that the organization is supposed to have set.
f) Shipowner and operator: Nagashiki Shipping and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
August 18, 2020: Captain of the MV Wakashio bulk carrier, Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar (L), leaves from a ... [+] L'EXPRESS MAURICE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Amid all of the Government interventions, the Wakashio was a privately owned and operated vessel by a large Japanese corporation. It was owned by Japan based Nagashiki Shipping and was being operated by one of the world’s largest shipping companies, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines that earned $12 billion revenue last year.
There are clear laws and rules that the owner and operator of the vessel have to abide by.
Despite several very straight forward questions asked by journalists at the outset, no answer has been received from Nagashiki Shipping on any of the information that could have a material impact on the health of the marine environment (such as amount of ballast water that was on the vessel at the time of sinking, and the origins of this ballast water).
In the year 2020 when advanced data science, cloud computing, machine learning and satellite technologies are available at the click of a button, the urgency of having this information is critical to a safe cleanup of all the pollution caused by the Wakashio. Delays in getting this information to the relevant parties impacted by this tragedy is not just a legal issue, but a moral one too.
h) Array of contractors engaged in the salvage operation
August 15, 2020: a range of support vessels and international consultants had been brought in to ... [+] AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
In a series of Government press releases, it was revealed that the overall salvage operation was being supervised by SMIT Salvage. The pollution cleanup efforts were being advised by Polyeco and Le Floch Depollution. The oil industry response group ITOPF was also involved.
This is a confusing array of specialists in an island nation that has never experienced a major oil spill before. As the world has demanded greater transparency of advice and recommendations, ordinary citizen of Mauritius have been surprised that 36 days after the grounding of the vessel, there has not been a single press conference or information release by any of these anonymous specialists.
If the clean up operations had been going smoothly, perhaps there would not need to be such scrutiny. But with 39 dead whales and dolphins (as of the last official count on Friday 28 August), important questions are now being asked on the liability of organizations who had provided such advice supporting the sinking of a vessel that could have been in violation of international law.
A case of ‘Who Did It’
29 August 2020: protestors are demanding answers for how a shipping incident could have led to such catastrophic consequences where ordinary islanders have been forced to clean up a major industrial pollution event
29 August 2020: protestors are demanding answers for how a shipping incident could have led to such ... [+] PHOTO: ARVIND MATTADEEN
As the mystery surrounding the Wakashio deepens, so too does the complex web of legal cases on every aspect of the operation.
The decision to sink the Wakashio was a controversial one. It was done in full light of media scrutiny at a time when the public was demanding answers. The lack of answers from 8 individual sets of actors over these decisions, has raised alarm bells internationally, as shown by protests not just in Mauritius – but in front of embassies around the world.
Understanding and publishing the basic factual information about the ship inventory, ballast water, toxic materials, location of the sinking should not be a game of ‘cat and mouse,’ where one needs the skills of Agatha Chirstie’s famous detective, Hercule Poirot to figure out ‘who did it’ and where.
In addition to the legal aspects of the case, there are now moral questions being asked about the global shipping industry, and how such a global industry could have been allowed to operate in such opaqueness for so long, impacting the lives of so many of the world’s poorest populations.
There are 39 dead whales and dolphins on Mauritius’ beaches, thousands of villagers who depend on the ocean remain in the dark, and it’s been 36 days since the grounding of the Wakashio. The current approach of secrecy has clearly not worked - either for the sinking of the Wakashio or any other aspect of the rehabilitation - and has triggered a political crisis.
Regardless of legal outcomes, it is clear that this is also a crisis of the global shipping industry’s own making.
47 Whales Now Confirmed Dead In Mauritius Amid International Condemnation Of Global Shipping
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/31/international-condemnation-of-global-shipping-grows-as-47-whales-confirmed-dead-in-mauritius
Aug 31, 2020,06:41pm EDT|3.021 views
Nishan Degnarain
I cover innovation within the green/blue industrial revolution.
On Monday, it was revealed that 47 whales have been found dead along the South East coast of Mauritius, including pregnant females and juveniles. The numbers continue to rise each day, around the crash site and sinking of the forward section of the Wakashio.
This come amid the extreme secrecy of the operation to salvage the rear of the vessel, disposal of the removed oil and clean up the oil along the coast. The lack of transparency about the methods being used for the cleanup is raising additional concerns about any longer term risk with the use of chemical dispersants. Comparisons are now being drawn between the cleanup in Mauritius and the hushed-up oil spill and cleanup operation in Venezuela earlier this month in its famous Morrocoy National Reserve.
Already, there were concerns about the controversial decision to deliberately sink the forward section of the Wakashio in an undisclosed location off the coast of Mauritius. Two days later, scores of dead dolphins and whales started drifting dead onto the shores of Mauritius.
Concerns about Wakashio salvage operation
29 August 2020: over 100,000 demonstrators on the streets of Mauritius capital city, Port Louis, protesting at the deaths of large numbers of marine mammals following major oil spill
This follows major demonstrations at the weekend in Mauritius and around its embassies around the world at the weekend, that attracted over 100,000 marchers (around 10% of the country) according to a report in the UK’s Independent newspaper. The protesters had marched peacefully on the streets of the capital, demanding justice and accountability for the environmental impact of the pollution, including the dead whales and dolphins.
This comes as international ocean NGO, Sea Shepherd revealed there was over 203,000 tons of ballast water on board the vessel when it hit the reefs of Mauritius (200 times the amount of oil leaked). Given concerns and international laws created in recent years to stop the harmful spread of marine disease through the release of ballast water, it is unclear whether this ballast water was safely removed from the vessel. Ship owner, Nagahsiki Shipping have not responded to media requests for comments.
At the same time, it is also being reported locally that the salvage team may have used seismic blasting in the sensitive areas around the Mauritian coast as part of the salvage operation. This is an area famed for its whale nursing sites, and several pregnant female Melon-headed whales and juveniles have already been found washed up in the past few days. If it is true that such seismic blasting had been undertaken, serious questions will need to be asked under whose authority such tests were conducted, and whether a thorough environmental impact assessment had been done of the area prior to the test, when there are dozens of luxury Five Star Hotels along Mauritius’ East Coast that offer tourists Dolphin and Whale Watching tours in the area.
International NGO criticism of global shipping
Work underway to remove capsized Delfi bunker tanker out of Black Sea in Odessa
26 AUGUST 2020: The Transship company carries out work to remove the capsized Delfi bunker tanker ... [+] KONSTANTIN SAZONCHIK/TASS
The international NGO community have also started to raise serious questions about the role of the global shipping industry in this incident. In a statement to Forbes, global ocean protection NGO, Ocean Conservancy has called for a full and independent investigation into the whale and dolphin deaths in Mauritius.
Chris Robbins, head of Science Initiatives at Ocean Conservancy and who worked for a decade on oil spill response and ecosystem restoration after the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy highlighted the risk to dolphins in particular following a major oil spill.
“Marine mammals like dolphins were among the most severely impacted marine species affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and recovery is estimated to take decades. Marine mammals are exposed to toxins in oil through inhalation, ingestion, aspiration and skin absorption, resulting in immediate death or sub-lethal effects such as lung disease, damage to the immune system and reproductive failure.
Right at the outset, Ocean Conservancy recognized that long-term monitoring is essential to tracking the recovery of impacted species such as marine mammal populations, as well as the broader marine ecosystem. Dolphins are long-lived and, as we saw in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the health effects of the spill could ripple throughout local dolphin populations for years to come.”
De-carbonizing the international shipping fleet
Ocean Conservancy has also gone on to call for bold shipping reform, echoing calls from other international environmental groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and Sea Shepherd for the same, citing the heavy engine fuel used as one of the main reasons this disaster was so extensive.
“In the ongoing uncertainty about science being used to assess the impact of the oil spill in Mauritius, one thing is crystal clear: we need to transition rapidly from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This includes, as a priority, de-carbonizing the international shipping fleet.
We estimate that full de-carbonization must occur by 2034 to remain within the 1.5 Celsius target set by the Paris Agreement. Accordingly, that will entail replacing all HFO (Heavy Fuel Oil) burning ships with cleaner green fuels like hydrogen or ammonia, which will also dramatically reduce the risk of a spill affecting marine mammals.
Japan and the Japanese based Nagashiki Shipping, owners of the MV Wakashio, have a key role to play in all of this. As one of the largest shipbuilding nations along with China and the Republic of Korea, Japan can set the standards to prevent the next Wakashio, and publicly commit to accelerating the IMO’s international timeline for full decarbonization. This spill should be a wakeup call for all shipbuilding nations.”
This statement from Ocean Conservancy, echoes WWF’s call for justice for the ocean including calls to reform of the ‘flags of convenience’ regime, a system that many have argued for years has allowed ship owners to behave with impunity on the world’s oceans. A range of legal and financial instruments have been highlighted by WWF for how a country like Mauritius can attempt to restore this unique ecosystem, based on other lessons from the Western Indian Ocean.
Ocean Conservancy’s Chris Robbins went further and cautioned about many of the secondary effects of an oil spill clean up operation that he had learned from the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy, that ended up causing even more harm.
He listed these in an article on the Ocean Conservancy site where he listed a five-point plan, for how Mauritius should think about its response to the Wakashio oil spill.
“There are some lessons from the Gulf of Mexico after the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy that can be applied to the unfolding tragedy in Mauritius on how to respond to the spill from the standpoint of response, clean up, documenting damage, holding the responsible party accountable and building a long-term restoration plan.”
So far, there has been no additional comments from either the vessel owner, Nagashiki Shipping company, or the multi-billion dollar ship operator that had leased the vessel, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, on the deaths of the dolphins or whales.
Notably, there has also not been a public statement on the oil spill from several other major UN or other ocean protection organizations, 37 days into this major ecological crisis.
Come fu salvato il piccione rosa di Mauritius:
www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/how-did-pink-pigeon-bounce-back-just-nine-birds
15 Feb 2019
How did the Pink Pigeon bounce back from just nine birds?
The Pink Pigeon is no longer Endangered. But how did conservationists achieve this, and is it sustainable? Dr Vikash Tatayah, Conservation Director, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (BirdLife Partner) reports from the field…There are now 473 Pink Pigeons in the wild © Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
By Vikash TatayahLast year, one of Mauritius’ best-loved birds hit a milestone that delighted the conservation world. In the 2018 Red List update, the Pink Pigeon Nesoenas mayeri was downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable, building upon the success of 2000, when it was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered. But behind the scenes of this happy news lies over 30 years of gruelling devotion, with conservationists tackling the numerous threats to the pigeon from every possible angle in their bid to bring it back from the brink.
For a while, we were worried it might go the same way as its fellow Mauritian endemic, the Dodo Raphus cucullatus. An even closer relative, the Reunion Pigeon Nesoenas duboisi, went extinct on the neighbouring Reunion Island in the late 18th century thanks to introduced cats and rats. The Pink Pigeon now holds the unenviable title of the last native pigeon in the whole Mascarene archipelago.
Predictably, it was the arrival of humans that heralded the Pink Pigeon’s decline. The species was once widely distributed across Mauritius, but by the 19th century its population had become extremely fragmented and confined to the upland forests. Humans had destroyed native vegetation to the extent that only 1.5% of the original, good-quality forest remained. They also hunted the plump bird and introduced a panoply of predators such as Black Rat Rattus rattus, Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus and Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicularis.
It wasn’t just animal predators: what little forest remained was soon invaded by non-native plants such as Chinese Guava Psidium cattleianum and the privet species Ligustrum robustum which choke vegetation, preventing the regeneration of native plants. By the mid-1970s, the species had plummeted to a single population of 20 birds in the upland forest of Black River Gorges, an area now known as Pigeon Wood. Just 12 Pink Pigeons remained in 1986, and of the five nesting attempts recorded that year, all were thwarted by rats. The wild population hit an all-time low of nine birds in 1990. The chances for long-term survival of the species looked bleak.
But the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation wasn’t going to let it go without a fight. With help from organisations across the world [see With Thanks, below], we set up an intensive conservation programme starting with captive breeding set up in 1976, followed by the first wild releases in 1987. We now have nine subpopulations centred around our field stations. Six of these are within the Black River Gorges National Park, close to the original Pigeon Wood. A sub-population can be found on the predator-free nature reserve island Ile aux Aigrettes, and two additional subpopulations are being created on private land at Ferney on the east of Mauritius and in Chamarel Ebony Forest in the south west. The purpose of these captive-reared birds is to bolster wild populations, and we encourage the dispersal of birds between the different areas in order to maintain genetic diversity. In total we now have 470 wild Pink Pigeons at these sites, a dramatic improvement compared to the species’ darkest hour.
But captive-breeding won’t help unless the wild habitat is made safe for these newcomers. That’s why wild populations are carefully managed using a three-pronged technique. Firstly, every Pink Pigeon is ringed with its own metal ID band and unique plastic colour combination. Each bird can therefore be identified and followed individually. All nests are checked regularly and the results documented. A large dataset has now been collected and continues to grow. This precise information helps us to understand in more depth the factors affecting the survival of the Pink Pigeon, and how to shape our management strategies accordingly.
Another priority is food. The Pink Pigeon is herbivorous, feeding mainly on fruit, leaves and flowers. But its natural habitat is so degraded that the birds are often unable to find enough food to support themselves. In order to supplement their diet, whole wheat and cracked maize is provided at each of the field sites. The food is placed on specially-designed platforms to prevent other species from obtaining it.
Introduced predators are, without a doubt, a major limiting factor to the survival of this species. Much energy is devoted to removing or controlling them from around the field sites. We are also researching and tackling diseases, in particular trichomonosis, an illness introduced by alien pigeons that can be especially fatal to Pink Pigeon chicks.
In the long term, large areas of forest will need to be restored so that the Pink Pigeon can spread into the uplands and breed in safe nesting sites with fewer predators. But for now, we are working on reinforcing numbers at the recently-created release sites. In order to increase genetic diversity, birds from captive populations in Europe will be repatriated to Mauritius. Research has shown that these birds have genetic variations no longer found in the wild population.
We are constantly seeking to improve our knowledge of the Pink Pigeon’s biology and behaviour, conducting studies into factors limiting the recovery of this species. We have examined the fruiting and flowering of plants that the pigeons feed on which, combined with feeding observations, will enable us to tailor our supplementary feeding more precisely. Ultimately, we have high hopes that all of these measures should enable us to meet our target of 600 wild Pink Pigeons in the next decade.
The future looks bright for other species, too. When working out how to save the Pink Pigeon, some techniques were inspired by previous pigeon rearing projects, but others have been perfected or developed on Mauritius. We can now pass these new techniques on to the rest of the world to help others restore threatened pigeons worldwide. Hundreds of field biologists trained in our methods have gone on to work in important conservation positions elsewhere. They now have the ability to disseminate what they learned globally, ensuring the Pink Pigeon’s success can spread beyond Mauritius’ borders.
Anche il Brasile ha avuto il suo disastro:
www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50268527
Brazil oil spill: Greek-flagged tanker believed to be source
2 November 2019
Brazilian officials suspect a Greek-flagged tanker was the source of an oil spill that has stained about 2,500km (1,553 miles) of Brazil's coastline.
Federal police in the city of Rio de Janeiro raided the offices of Delta Tankers Ltd last week.
Delta Tankers told AFP they did not accept blame for the spill and the tanker's voyage ended "uneventfully".
Marine life and popular beaches in a number of north-eastern Brazilian states have been affected by the spill.
The tanker alleged to have caused the spill, the Bouboulina, was carrying heavy crude oil from Venezuela to Malaysia in July.
But Delta Tankers said the Bouboulina "completed her voyage uneventfully, without having experienced any fuel shortage".
"There is no proof of the vessel having stopped, conducted any kind of STS (Ship to Ship) operation, leaked, slowed down or veered off course on its passage from Venezuela to Melaka, Malaysia," the company said in a statement.
About 2,000 tonnes of thick sludge have been collected, but a huge clean-up effort is continuing.
Concerns are growing that the oil spill could reach the Abrolhos islands, an important marine sanctuary.
La Exxon Valdez raccontata dal Time:
time.com/3748246/exxon-valdez-history/
BY JENNIFER LATSON
MARCH 24, 2015 10:30 AM EDTIt was the worst man-made environmental catastrophe in U.S. history — that is, until five years ago, when it was eclipsed by a disaster roughly 20 times its scope. On this day, March 24, in 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and spewed an estimated 11 million gallons of oil into pristine arctic waters. Only the 2010 drilling-rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was worse; then, over the course of 87 days, more than 200 millions of crude oil gushed into the Gulf.
Twenty-six years ago, however, it was hard to picture a more destructive oil spill than the one in Prince William Sound. The oil slick fanned out as far as 500 miles from the tanker’s crash site and oozed along 1,300 mi. of shoreline. Tarred, feathered sandpipers and oil-coated otters featured in devastating nightly news footage. Salmon and eagle populations were decimated. Thousands of seals and a quarter of a million shorebirds died, per TIME. And despite a massive, multi-year cleanup effort that cost Exxon billions of dollars, the region is still suffering.
While the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico teem with bacteria that have helped break down some of the crude unleashed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout, the icy waters of Prince William Sound inhibit decay, and oil patches that can be traced back to the Valdez still linger on remote beaches, just below the sand.
“The oil may not leak out in quantities that are immediately visible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there,” one scientist told TIME in 2009, when random tests along the shoreline revealed that an estimated 20,000 gallons of oil remained. “We thought the cleanup would be a one-shot deal — but it’s still lingering.”
As of the spill’s 25th anniversary last year, only 13 of 32 affected wildlife populations and habitats monitored by the government since the spill were listed as “fully recovered” or “very likely recovered,” according to CNN. Some were listed as “not recovering,” including the herring population, once the source of a booming fishery, and a pod of killer whales that lost 15 of its 22 members after the spill and is expected to die off completely in the coming years.
While the lessons learned in the Alaskan cleanup may have led to a better response to the spill in the Gulf, the most enduring lesson is that maritime oil spills are devastating even with the best possible response.
“Whether it’s Prince William Sound or the Gulf of Mexico, seldom is more than 10 percent of the spilled oil recovered,” Alaskan writer Marybeth Holleman concluded in a CNN opinion piece. “This will be especially true in Arctic waters. And regardless of how safe we make oil drilling, tankers, or pipelines, we’ll never reduce spill risk to zero.”
Anche in Yemen e nel Mar Rosso in generale?
Why 150 Million People In Six Red Sea Countries Should Be Watching Mauritius’ Oil Spill Response
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/24/why-150-million-people-in-six-red-sea-countries-should-be-watching-mauritius-oil-spill-response/
Aug 24, 2020,10:17pm EDT|6.484 views
Nishan Degnarain
16 July 2020: In an assessment by UK's DFID, the impact of the oil pollution and associated air pollution can be seen along the entire Red Sea
150 million people live in six countries along the Red Sea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan Eritrea. The Red Sea coastline contains some of the regions most important population centers with Jeddah (4 million in Saudi Arabia), Port Sudan, tourist hotspots of Hurgada and Safarga, as well as the fast growing coastal cities of Djibouti, Massawa, Al Hodeidah, Eilat and Aqaba.
This region has some of the most unspoilt and richest coral reef ecosystems in the world, that have stayed relatively resilient from the climate crisis.
However, since July, concerns have been elevated that the entire Red Sea region is facing one of the world’s biggest environmental crisis: an oil spill of a magnitude never before seen in such a biodiversity sensitive area. Add in a world paralyzed with a coronavirus pandemic, and we have the perfect storm for a major humanitarian crisis that will play out in front of the world’s media.
Massive Yemen Oil Tanker: abandoned and ready to blow
FSO SAFER TANKER -- JUNE 17, 2020: Maxar Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored off Ras Issa port, in Yemen, on June 17, 2020.
JUNE 17, 2020: Maxar Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored off Ras Issa port, in Yemen,. DIGITALGLOBE/GETTY IMAGES
A massive oil tanker containing 1.14 million barrels of crude oil has been sitting in storage off the coast of Ras Issa Port, off the coast of Yemen. Because of the ongoing civil war conflict between the Houthis and Government forces in Yemen, the tanker has spent a prolonged period at sea. The 45 year old ironically named, The FSO Safer, is moored at sea 37 miles North of the rebel-held port of Hudaydah.
How Satellites Tracked The Fateful Journey Of The Ship That Led To Mauritius’ Worst Oil Spill Disaster
International Cover Up Fear As Panama Drawn Into Wakashio Oil Spill Ship Controversy In Mauritius
Dramatic Photos Show Wakashio Being Deliberately Sunk As Mystery Continues Over Final Location
There are now growing fears that the vessel could sink or explode - following water entering the tanker’s engine room. The rusting pipes and engine room that hasn’t been maintained for over five years, pose a particular hazard, as seen in dramatic footage taken last year.
If this was to happen, it would put the entire Red Sea, including one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes at risk of a major ecological catastrophe, the likes of which the world has never seen (most major oil spills have tended to be in lower population, remote locations).
Crude vs Bunker Fuel Oil Spills
By way of comparison, the Wakashio was carrying just over 1 million gallons of heavy engine fuel oil when it crashed into Mauritius. It is not clear how much of this 1 million gallons spilled into the Indian Ocean, but the devastation could be seen and measured on the ground. TheSafer oil tanker contains almost 50 times more oil (47.9 million gallons), although it is crude oil spill so has a different sort of effect and cannot be compared to bunker fuel spills as seen in Mauritius.
Being in the saltier and warmer Red Sea environment over such fragile coral ecosystems, and some heavily dense population centers where the population could experience both the impact of crude oil in water supplies, food supply, as well as the associated oil pollution, could catalyze a major ecological and humanitarian disaster punctuated with a food, water and health crisis. Over half the people in the region are currently dependent on some form of international aid. UN experts estimate the impact on marine life would be devastating with hundreds of species of sea turtles, sharks, rays and seabirds now at risk in addition to the pristine coral reefs.
The UN Security Council met recently to discuss ways to intervene in the situation, and expressed their deep concern at the “growing risk that the Safer oil tanker could rupture or explode causing an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe for Yemen and its neighbours."
One of the big delays hampering an intervention has been a discussion around who would receive the proceeds from the sale of the oil, estimated at $40m (which is half of what it was worth before oil prices slumped recently).
Such is the gravity of the situation that the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, as well as the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres, have called for a ceasefire among rebel and Government forces so an international team could get in to stabilize the tanker and safely remove the oil.
The ceasefire has not happened after five years of more intense fighting in an ongoing civil war since Houthi rebels took over the Yemen capital, Sanaa in 2015.
In an assessment by the UK Department for International Development, they released a map that highlighted the extent of the spill and associated air pollution. This would set back the region for decades in terms of the impact of such hydrocarbons on the sandy beaches surrounding the Red Sea.
Potential impact of oil spill and air pollution could impact one of the most important water ways and enclosed straits in the world
Lessons from Mauritius Response
If the countries around the Red Sea are complacent about the risk, they need only look at what is happening 2500 miles South in Mauritius. Calls for an independent international inquiry is growing in Mauritius amid widespread discontent on how the oil spill has been handled by both the shipping company as well as the Government and an army of international advisers who have bypassed the locally organized civil society efforts that have been on the front lines of the response.
Here are ten lessons that Governments around the Red Sea region should take away from how Mauritius’ handled the oil spill response, and what could be done differently.
1. Preparation
In a document presented at a UN Conference in March 2020 entitled ‘National Oil Spill Preparedness: Status for Mauritius,’ the full preparedness of Mauritius for a major oil spill could be seen. Governments from the Red Sea region should ensure their plans are up to date, and that they have all the equipment, oil protection booms, processes, documentation, legislation, regulations in place and up to date in the case of a disaster. This may also include any legislation or regulations that need to be updated on which vessels are allowed to travel in the waters around the Red Sea and the complex rules on oil spill compensation.
2. Practice now
When the oil spill hit, there was a ‘fog of war’ situation on the ground. What started as a shipping incident, quickly escalated into a major ecological crisis and now a major political crisis as the biggest ever protests in the country since independence is being organized for this weekend. The Wakashio was grounded on the coral reefs of Mauritius for 12 days and the single-hulled vessel dragged for almost 1 km against the jagged edge of the barrier reef before it split and the oil was released. The Government was highly dependent on international advisers sent by the global shipping regulator, the IMO, and salvage companies linked to the shipping company and insurance firms. Mauritians with deep expertise in the area were sidelined, and even when satellite analysis revealed the risk, this was ignored. Countries around the Red Sea region should run regular drills with various scenarios, so that all agencies are aware how to react, and that internal and external communication mechanisms are functioning effectively, and also that critical pieces of information can reach the right decisionmakers at the right time. The practice drills that the UK Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Unit are some of the best in the world.
3. Invest in Technology
The latest satellites using high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar are the front line in any defense against oil spills around the world, as see in this image of Finish Space Company, Iceye's final testing prior to launch of its SAR constellation.
Responding to a major oil spill (especially if a country has never experienced one before), requires understanding a lot of very complex technologies very quickly. These include the various forms of oil protection booms (it can be seen in Mauritius that there are concerns about what oil protection booms were used and how they were deployed around the Wakashio, which will yield important lessons in the accident inquiry), the types of oil spill detection software (there was a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding in the early days of the oil spill with officials pointing to apparently transparent waters and claiming there was no risk. Advanced satellite technologies like Synthetic Aperture Radar reveal the toxic sheen on the surface water of the ocean that is so deadly to marine life. Understanding these types of satellite capabilities and
recognizing, just like purchasing a car, there are a range of satellites that each perform to a different capability and sensitivity in this domain (e.g., in the SAR satellite market a full review of the major participants should be done covering all major providers such as Iceye, Capella Space, Airbus, UN Satellite UNOSAT, European Space Agency). This will help overcome any confusion on the ground on the true extent of the spill. For example, with Mauritius, the more sensitive and accurate Iceye satellites were able to detect the spill in Blue Bay Marine Park and as far as 14 miles North within 5 days of the oil spill at Ile aux Cerfs, whereas the less sensitive UNOSAT and ESA satellites were not.
4. Transparency = Trust
In a national crisis, such as a major oil spill, having a transparency on the extent and nature of the spill from the best experts possible is foundational to any response. Trying to sugar-coat or manipulate data from the spill erodes trust and hampers the effectiveness of the response. This was clear in the Mauritius case study, where efforts to downplay the effects of the spill on the tourism sector, caused even more concern when the true extent of the spill, nature of the spill, impact on marine life (arsenic levels in fish 500% higher), and direction of the spill, has added more confusion to the situation. By not providing that transparency, trust was rapidly eroded and what started as an environmental crisis has now rapidly descended into one of the largest political crisis faced by Mauritius since independence, with large nationwide protests being organized for this weekend. For many Governments around the Red Sea, they have also seen the anger spillover against the Government of Lebanon following the Beirut Port explosion. Transparency will be the foundation to trust and any oil spill response. In Mauritius’ case, the silence of the army of international advisers and international Governments rushing to Mauritius has added to the mistrust not just of Mauritian authorities, but the motivations of various international corporate actors, regulators, and other Government representatives now in the country.
5. Partner with a large volunteer army
What was clear from the Wakashio incident, was as the Government and the oil spill response team was woefully disorganized, ordinary Mauritians had to step up to create homemade oil protection booms from dried sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles to keep these afloat, items of clothing and human hair to absorb the oil. The volunteers had also been going up and down the coast to help with the cleanup. These were local residents, concerned citizens, fishermen, tourism tour boat operators. Rather than supporting such efforts, civil society organizations have complained that their efforts are being undermined by a Government that is embarrassed it has been upstaged by a large volunteer army. Efforts to restrict the volunteer efforts - who have been informed by a wide network of international contacts with experience in managing oil spills - have created more anger among these civil society groups who feel the Government is sabotaging any genuine cleanup operation. Red Sea Governments should learn lessons from this, and find ways to work collaboratively with a much larger set of volunteers than any military and Government response can do alone.
6. Work with - not against - local NGOs
With Mauritius, the response was primarily limited to a Government-first response. There was some limited engagement with the private sector. In fact, it was many of the local NGOs who had been working for decades on environmental rehabilitation that were caught in the front lines, especially the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and EcoSud. These organizations often had the deepest insights and local expertise needed to respond to the various aspects of the complicated oil spill response. In bypassing this local expertise, the oil spill response was doomed from the start. Red Sea Governments should begin assessing which local civil society groups have been working on various issues in the region, so the best and most relevant data and talent can be brought to address the problem and improve the quality of the response. This is not just limited to Government, but also many of the international efforts that appear to be tripping over themselves by not engaging in a systematic and transparent way with local civil society organizations.
7. Proactively engage a sophisticated diaspora
In today’s interconnected world, there are many diaspora members of a country or community. This means there may already be deep expertise for various parts of an oil spill response. In the case of Mauritius, the country had been positioned as ‘the Singapore of Africa’ with a well educated and literate population, with a diaspora who had attended some of the world’s best universities and were world leaders in their field. By not engaging any of the thousands of diaspora who were offering their services to the country, and instead relying on an expensive army of international consultants with no link to the country, this has not just angered local Mauritians but the very influential international diaspora too. This has been compounded by many of the international agencies, foreign Governments and international companies repeating these mistakes. Red Sea countries should recognize that many of the talents needed for a major oil spill response may already exist among its diaspora community, and a mature and proactive approach should be taken to harness the best talent for the region, who have the deepest passions for any long term rehabilitation plan.
8. Establish a central nerve center
In any ‘fog of war’ situation, the early day interventions are critical. There needs to be one source of truth through which decisions are taken, and filtering mechanisms through which those with insights are able to reach such a center. Social media has transformed emergency responses, and the wisdom of the crowd is often used to identify credible sources and data, from those that may be inaccurate. A Central Nerve Center that is on the front line of the incident, and which journalists can view, help build trust, transparency and ensure a response effort is being pursued in a careful and co-ordinated manner, as the situation requires. Today, there are many mobile command posts that can be deployed to such a field situation, and data can be piped in from any sources, so the hardware should not necessarily be the limiting factor. If Red Sea Governments have such mobile command centers, now is the time to be dusting them off, and running dry run rehearsals in case there is a need to rapidly deploy in the event of the tanker failing.
9. Science-led response
What has happened in Mauritius is that the science needed to respond to the crisis has swiftly become politicized. Secretive meetings between Government scientists and representatives of the polluting company has led to the wrong sort of evidence being collected. It has been over 1 month since the Wakashio grounded itself on Mauritius’ pristine coral lagoon, and yet best practice science have described the need to track for non-lethal bio-markers in fish. These can be tested using the many PCR tests the country has from Covid-19 preparation, and would indicate the true extent of the spill. However, the science being used, collection sites, methodologies and results have all been kept highly secretive. In an interconnected world, many of the world’s leading scientists who had offered to help are watching and wondering about the quality of Mauritius’ scientists. Mauritius has a world class Oceanographic Institute and Fisheries Research Center, along with some of Africa’s best universities and private laboratories. By not allowing access to independent scientists to guide the science gathering effort, the credibility of local scientists and the international oil spill response team paid for and sent in by the shipping company, is eroding faith in the science. Red Sea Governments should bear this in mind, as the longer term repercussions are that if countries wish to be seen as having world class and independent scientific collaborations, the transparency with which they conduct their work is critical. As anyone in the scientific world knows, the views of peers - especially international peers - can mean all the difference on academic progression and recognition in the world.
10. Local oversight in any response
Since the start of the crisis on 25 July, one of the loudest complaints has been how ordinary Mauritians have been sidelined in various plans by the international community. Platitudes, such as from the Mauritian Prime Minister that the situation remained under control and that international ‘experts’ were on the scene, has quickly descended into farcical and angry scenes as the single-hull vessel dragged along the coral reef for 12 days, spilt its cargo, then split in two separate sections, and then there was the dumping of the forward section of the Wakashio in a mysterious location where the Government of Mauritius has still not revealed the precise co-ordinates. The army of international consultants who descended on Mauritius with unclear funding paths linked to the shipping company, insurance company and oil response firms, and offering various tools for spill detection, containment and rehabilitation has angered many Mauritians. Such efforts reflect the very worst of Western Aid approaches, epitomized with the 1984 Ethiopia Famine and the immortal lyrics, “Do they know it’s Christmas time [in Africa]” (details of criticism here). A quarter of a century later, the oil industry and international aid community have clearly not learned their lessons. Perhaps they are the ones who may need the aid to survive, amid a global climate crisis and pressure for transparency on an industry that is already looking like a relic of a bygone age.
Local civil society groups around the Red Sea should be aware of such a response, and start preparing a co-ordinated civil society response now, to ensure that any international effort has strong local oversight, that is independent and not just Government driven.
Early interventions count
Amid the challenges of a global coronavirus pandemic, action taken in the early day of such an oil spill crisis could have prevented a bad shipping incident turning into an ecological and human health disaster and now the largest oil clean up along the pristine beaches of the Indian Ocean.
If the six countries around the Red Sea aren’t taking the right steps to prepare now, the much larger scale of 150 million people being affected (rather than than 1.3m of Mauritius), means we are looking at a scale 100x greater and having ecological, macroeconomic and regional political consequences.
As more light is shone on the issues involved with oil spills and their response, calls for big changes - such as those led by Sir Richard Branson - are mounting on the large shipping regulator, the IMO, to begin making those changes
Ma il mare è utile persino contro ... il COVID. No, non è la trama di Mato Grosso, ma ci si avvicina molto.
Will Ocean Seabed Mining Delay The Discovery Of Potential Coronavirus Vaccines?
Mar 16, 2020,02:09pm EDT|8.231 views
www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/03/16/will-ocean-seabed-mining-delay-the-discovery-of-potential-coronavirus-vaccines/
Nishan Degnarain
Last week saw the most unprecedented reaction to a global health crisis in modern times. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the US President announced a National Emergency that released $50 billion in federal funding, Italy introduced a national quarantine, over 145 countries (and rising) now have recorded cases, travel restrictions are in place in every country around the world, and the New York Federal Reserve announced a $1.5 trillion intervention to stabilize markets.
Most countries are either in the containment phase of the disease (i.e., test, identify and isolate cases) or the mitigation phase (i.e., delaying the spread and ensuring business continuity measures).
At the same time, the race is now on to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of any second wave of infections later this year.
The speed with which a vaccine is developed depends on many factors (e.g., the success of pre-clinical trials, animal testing phases, human clinical trials, and production scale up). Advances in biological technology (such as gene-editing CRISPR and cell free protein synthesis) is accelerating the time to vaccines and treatment development. However one critical element is still needed. That is the initial step to find the biological clues which lead to the high potential chemical compounds that could reduce the potency of COVID-19.
Many of these high potential chemical compounds come from natural sources, so modern medicine will need to return to the wild to find them.
Solutions from the deep ocean?
Last week among the COVID-19 headlines, David Attenborough made a plea calling for Deep Ocean Seabed Mining to be banned. One of the reasons he cited was the importance of deep water corals and microscopic microbes at the bottom of the ocean.
It turns out, these are extremely valuable for modern medicine, including addressing coronaviruses.
A protein from an ocean seabed algae found among coral reefs was revealed to show activity against another coronavirus known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS. MERS is a close relative of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, and was responsible for an outbreak in the Middle East in 2012 that infected almost 2500 people, leading to over 850 deaths in 27 countries (34% fatality). This marine compound griffithsin was extracted from the red algae Griffithsia that is native to coral reefs around the Canary Islands and identified in 2016 to be a potential inhibitor to the MERS coronavirus.
Diver overlooking a large orange elephant ear sponge (Agelas clathrodes) Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
This is just one of over forty marine compounds that have anti viral properties and are undergoing pre-clinical and clinical trials around the world (such as another coronavirus inhibitor from the ocean sponge axinella corrugata found in the Caribbean). These are all at the early stage of vaccine discovery, but help researchers identify areas of high potential. Having such a library of high potential chemical compounds from nature against coronaviruses, could have greatly accelerated progress for vaccine development ahead of time among the several major companies working on these solutions.
Yet, less than 0.05% of the deep ocean has been visited, photographed or sampled. We are just learning the true potential and value of life in the deep ocean.
Being able to sample marine wildlife is critical to identify more potential targets to address threats such as the coronavirus in the future. Not all will come from the ocean, but natural products will be a crucial part, given that COVID-19 jumped the species barrier to impact humans. Indeed, the WHO has called the Climate Crisis a Health Crisis, and as the ocean warms, the risks to humans rise with more novel diseases and less biology with which to help combat them.
It is important that we are able to catalogue these environments before these ecosystems and their complex biology are lost forever.
Valuable medicines from the deep
Selective pressures - the unique conditions under which lifeforms evolve - are no more extreme than at the bottom of the deep ocean. Life here has evolved to live at extraordinary pressures, temperatures, and chemical environments. This means that deep sea creatures have evolved distinct genes, which encode proteins, which in turn catalyze unusual chemistry or possess other useful properties. These unique marine genetic resources are the product of evolution over timescales and in conditions which humans cannot replicate.
Marine genetic resources are therefore irreplaceable products of nature that play a critical role in modern medicine and industrial processes today. Take a look at any major disease and often the highest potential treatments have their origin in a marine natural product. For example:
A treatment for advanced breast cancer developed by the Japanese Pharmaceutical company Eisai, was derived from the marine sponge natural product called eribulin. The drug - called Halaven - has prolonged numerous lives, generated over $500 million in annual sales since 2015, and is now approved in over 65 countries. Eribulin is found in the marine ‘breadcrumb sponge’ called halichondria, that is prevalent in the North Atlantic, Mediterranen and around New Zealand at a depth of 500m.
The first effective HIV treatment was azidothymidine (better known as AZT). This is a variant of a chemical compound made from a marine sponge in the Caribbean called tectitethya crypta. It generated $4 billion in sales alone and in combination with other anti-HIV drugs, since being approved by the FDA in 1987.
Infectious diseases are increasingly drug-resistant, and medical science is constantly battling to stay ahead. Organisms that cause malaria and tuberculosis can be killed by marine-derived compounds such as cyclomarin. Cyclomarin comes from an ocean bacteria called salinispora arenicola first identified around islands in the Bahamas in 1991.
Coal Regions To Receive Billions In German Aid to transition to clean technology by 2038
In addition to medicine, the biology from the deep ocean is valuable for industrial purposes, especially cleaning up pollution and environmental remediation, which will be critical to restore our planet to a healthy ecosystem.
A recently discovered deep sea microbe in 2014 from 2km depth in the Indian Ocean, nesiotobacter exalbescens, efficiently degrades hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene which are common soil and water pollutants), and is therefore a potential tool for environmental cleanup, especially oil spills in the ocean.
A bacteria discovered in the deep sea can clean contaminated soil and water from the toxic mercury pollution caused by coal power plants. The alcanivorax bacteria was discovered at 2km depth on the East Pacific Rise in the Pacific Ocean, close to where Seabed Mining is due to begin in the Clipperton Zone. This bacteria converts mercury salt into a less harmful form of the metal, and along with the metal reducing bacteria living on and in metal polymetallic nodules, may enable the remediation of the millions of square kilometers of mercury-contaminated soil and water that surround coal-power stations across the USA and China that make agriculture grown there not fit for human consumption.
An enzyme which copies pieces of DNA, was discovered in a microbe living on a deep-sea hydrothermal vent off the coast of Italy. It has been turned into a product by New England BioLabs and sold commercially. The enzyme’s evolution under extremely hot and high-pressure conditions makes it more stable, and a more effective approach to copy DNA than its relatives in other species, rendering it a valuable tool for molecular biologists.
These are just a handful of medical and industrial examples of a world that humans have only just begun to explore and understand, as new technologies open new biological frontiers in the sustainable blue industrial revolution.
A habitat at risk
2020 was supposed to be the biggest year for the environment, with major UN negotiations to protect our oceans, biodiversity and the climate.
Some of these talks around the importance of life in the oceans (the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty or BBNJ), has now been postponed to later in the year. The BBNJ treaty was supposed to create a framework to ensure such life in the deep ocean is protected and valued, rather than be put at risk by extractive industrial activities.
At the same time as countries are recognizing the value of deep ocean species, seabed mining companies are lobbying countries to allow them to mine the deep ocean seabed for mineral resources.
A Jamaica-based UN Agency called the International Seabed Authority was due to vote on a legal framework in July 2020 to authorize such commercial mining. It was against particular countries voting at this agency that David Attenborough voiced his opinion.
Scientific outrage
The prospect of starting commercial scale Seabed Mining in 2020 has been to the outrage of leading ocean scientists, civil society and major environmental NGOs, who fear an unprecedented loss of biodiversity and weak regulatory oversight. They are calling for a ban or at the very least, a ten year moratorium on any such commercial operation, until science has sufficiently advanced to understand deep ocean environments.
There are many environmental uncertainties with seabed mining, which would devastate deep ocean habitats and the valuable life that inhabits them.
Life around hydrothermal vents were only discovered 43 years ago in 1977, which completely overturned theories of how life evolved on Earth. Yet, mining will be allowed around such communities in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
Following a trial of experimental Seabed Mining off the coast of Peru in 1989, a quarter of a century later, almost 80% of life had not returned, revealing the extent of permanent damage seabed mining would do to life in our oceans. This includes loss of the valuable microbial colonies that are powerful for new medicines and sustainable industrial processes.
In addition, there is great uncertainty around the toxic clouds of sediment around mining operations, called plumes, that will rise up around any deep ocean machinery as excess sediment is discarded away from the mined metals. Seabed nodules grow 10mm every 10 million years in very delicate ocean environments. Hence Seabed Mining companies’ plans to remove 4cm of seabed sediment implies destroying 40 million years of evolutionary history. This is in addition to any noise and other permanent damage being done by dredging up the seabed as is planned for the Pacific Ocean.
Hence, it is critical that the world has time to study, identify and categorize the unique life on the deep ocean floor before they are lost forever.
Given that the consequences of COVID-19 are estimated to cost the global economy as much as $3 trillion in 2020 (over $8 billion a day, or over $5.5 million a minute), every moment counts in developing effective treatments. There is no seabed mineral more valuable and unavailable on land that justifies such a planetary risk.
The current coronavirus crisis shows just how important it is to have a library of deep ocean natural resources, including deep ocean microbial communities. It is critical to ensure we have a large enough repository of natural product targets to be prepared for the next health pandemic crisis. This could save precious months to identify high potential compounds and develop effective vaccines, saving the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars.
Advances in deep ocean exploration, machine learning and biotechnology to better understand natural products, are all significantly accelerating our understanding of nature and potential medical and industrial applications.
The COVID-19 crisis has been a wake-up call for so many aspects of global governance. The world will be irreversibly changed after this crisis.
The activities we permit to occur in our oceans are yet another area where the world needs to turn its attention to, but this time with much more consideration.
Louis Metzger, Ph.D. contributed to this article, particularly with his knowledge of infectious disease research and the role that micro-organisms will play in the transition to a sustainable economy. Dr. Metzger was formerly a Group Leader and Project Team Leader in Novartis’ Infectious Diseases Unit, where his team sought new antimicrobial molecules for drug discovery, including from Natural Products. He is now the Chief Science Officer of a BioTechnology startup.
How The Indian Ocean Oil Spill Could Impact Global Health
www.forbes.com/sites/louismetzgeriv/2020/08/14/how-the-indian-ocean-oil-spill-could-impact-global-health
Aug 14, 2020,07:02am EDT|1.853 views
Louis Metzger IV
I am an infectious disease biochemist and entrepreneur.
A Japanese oil tanker recently ran aground in the Indian Ocean, devastating one of the world's last remaining global biodiversity hotspots. This could significantly impact the discovery of novel medicines, including those that might combat future pandemics. By killing organisms from fish to microbes, most of them unknown to science, this catastrophe deprives humans of potential therapeutics encoded by those creatures' DNA. What sorts of life-changing molecules might we lose?
We face global destruction of ocean biodiversity due to climate change and pollution.
Human-made disasters, such as the recent oil fouling of a biologically rich reef in Mauritius — a global diversity hotspot — compound these losses.
Essential medicines have been found in the few ocean species that have been extensively studied at a molecular level.
More than 90% of ocean life remains undiscovered, and the majority of known species are not well characterized.
We are destroying unique chemistry, evolved in deep time and encoded by DNA, that can be turned into life-saving drugs.
The loss of these natural medicines is an immense cost of environmental degradation.
Dozens of impactful medicines have originated in the world's oceans. AZT, the first effective antiviral treatment for HIV, was inspired by compounds made by coastal sponges, much like those presently drenched in oil near the coast of Mauritius. This type of molecule — a nucleoside analog — was the starting point for the discovery of antiviral drugs like acyclovir and its derivatives, which are mainstays for controlling flares of herpes and shingles. Chemicals made by ocean sponges possess an array of promising anti-infective activities, targeting pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Sponge nucleoside derivatives led to the discovery of ara-C (Cytarabine), a drug that revolutionized the treatment of certain cancers, including leukemias and lymphomas. Cytarabine is a key component of chemotherapeutic regimens that have increased long-term survival in sufferers of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. Since this drug's approval by the FDA in 1969, ALL patients' long-term survival has increased from 10% to 90%. Another sponge-derived molecule, eribulin (Halaven), marketed by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, is used to treat metastatic breast cancer in women who have already received chemotherapy. Dozens of potential therapeutics have been discovered in sponges, and they are but one type of ocean life.
Species of macroalgae (seaweed) harbor numerous potentially therapeutic compounds. Last month, an international research team showed that molecules extracted from algae can reduce the ability of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing Covid-19) to infect mammalian cells in a test tube. In this experiment, the algal molecules performed better than Gilead's remdesivir. Griffithsin, a molecule derived from a species of red algae endemic to the Canary Islands, inhibits the ability of MERS virus (a close relative of SARS-CoV-2) to invade mammalian cells. Molecules from algae are also under investigation for their ability to aid in the repair of spinal injuries.
The sea teems with microbes. These have evolved to produce chemicals that a pharmaceutical chemist would be unlikely to design. With humanity facing a smoldering pandemic due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ocean microbes may become valuable sources of antibacterial compounds. The antibiotic cyclomarin, which was discovered in an ocean bacterium near the Bahamas, is a promising example among many. Other ocean microbes, such as fungi, produce a host of potential drugs, including compounds having anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities.
In a world ravaged by opioid addiction, ocean organisms offer starting points to develop effective and non-addictive analgesics. Cone-snails hunt fish using a potent blend of toxins, many of which affect their prey’s nervous systems. Study of these toxins' mechanisms of action has led to new drugs for pain relief, including FDA-approved Prialt for severe chronic pain. Other toxins from cone snails show potential for treating a variety of brain diseases, including depression and epilepsy.
These are but some of the examples of the oceans' medicinal treasures. What we have yet to discover may profoundly impact human health and quality of life. Indeed, evolved chemistry may be the planet's most valuable medicinal resource.
The richness and diversity of the chemicals produced by marine organisms is a consequence of the sundry evolutionary pressures under which they evolved. For instance, the numerous molecules in cone snails' venom have evolved in an "arms race" with the snails' prey. As the latter developed immunity to incapacitation by venom molecules, the cone snails produced ever more diverse venom components to maximize their predatory success. The snails consequently evolved to make a pharmacopeia of biologically active chemicals.
Ocean organisms live in environments full of gradients — conditions spanning extremes, which have selected for an extraordinary diversity of life-forms. Examples of such gradients are the sunlight, temperature, pressure, nutrients, salinity, and turbidity experienced by different ocean organisms. Due to their evolution in these gradients, ocean species developed legion metabolic strategies and chemistries particular to each species. These organisms’ evolutionary trajectories, which occurred in deep time and in inherently unknowable conditions, are irreproducible. It follows that much of the chemistry encoded by these species' DNA, once lost, will never be rediscovered nor recreated by human genius.
The Value Of Preserving The Oceans' Unknown Unknowns
Nature's therapeutic molecules, and the organisms which make them, are but one category of oceans' priceless biological assets. With more than 90% of ocean life undiscovered and the vast majority of known species uncharacterized at a molecular level, our losses with each oil spill and each dying reef are unknown and possibly unknowable. Even during a pandemic and economic meltdown, the destruction of an irreplaceable and pristine ocean ecosystem demands our attention. Human-made ecological disasters may deprive an infected patient of the antibiotic that will save their life, or a parent of the drug that will cure their child of cancer.
nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=37837&inline
Summary On November 7, 2007 the container ship Cosco Busan allided with a tower supporting the San Francisco Bay Bridge spilling roughly 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay. The spill contaminated the shoreline adjacent to North Central Bay areas expected to be major spawning grounds for Pacific herring in the following months, based on the preceding decade of surveys. Based on experience following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, it was anticipated that contamination of the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones with Cosco Busan bunker oil could result in toxic injury to early life history stages of Pacific herring. Because of the relative ease of collecting herring spawn samples and a strong scientific understanding of the impacts of oil to herring embryos, this species was also chosen for study as a surrogate for other ecologically important fish species that utilize the intertidal and shallow subtidal for spawning. The aims of this study during the 2007-2008 herring spawning season were to (1) assess and compare the biological responses of herring embryos and larvae that incubated adjacent to oiled shorelines with those incubated adjacent to reference non-oiled sites in the North Central Bay; and (2) characterize the exposure of herring embryos to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) potentially derived from Cosco Busan oil. Because the findings from the 2007-2008 season strongly suggested impacts to embryos incubated at oiled sites, followup field and lab studies were performed during the following two spawning seasons. During the 2007-2008 spawning season, herring embryos developing in situ in San Francisco Bay were assessed for PAH exposure, sublethal cardiac toxicity, developmental abnormalities, and hatching success.
Cages containing artificially fertilized embryos were moored together with passive water sampling devices for PAHs (polyethylene membrane devices; PEMDs) at six sites. Four of these sites were visibly oiled immediately after the spill, while two sites were not oiled but contiguous with the same heavily urbanized shoreline (reference sites). Caged embryos were in the subtidal zone, at a common depth at least 1 m below the surface throughout the tidal cycle. Naturally spawned embryos were collected from five mid to low intertidal sites, four of which were adjacent to the caged embryos. Embryos from all sites were transported to a laboratory for live imaging using digital photo- and videomicroscopy and for incubation to hatching.
Chemical analysis of embryos collected in 2008 and 2010 included PAHs and a suite of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) routinely found in urban environments, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides. Additionally, ovaries and whole bodies of pre-spawning adult herring entering San Francisco Bay in 2008 were analyzed for PAHs and POPs to evaluate the potential for maternal transfer of contaminants. Whereas embryos incubated in the turbid subtidal zone at oiled sites in 2008 showed heart rate defects and pericardial edema consistent with sublethal petroleum toxicity, the vast majority of embryos developing in the intertidal zone at oiled sites died just before the hatching stage, with major disruption of tissues. No toxicity was observed in natural spawn or caged embryos from unoiled reference sites. Very few larvae with normal morphology hatched from natural spawn samples collected at oiled sited in 2008. The composition of PAHs at oiled sites in embryos and PEMDs was consistent with oil exposure against a background of urban PAH sources, although tissue concentrations were too low to explain the dramatic lethality. Concentrations of other pollutants typically associated with urbanization were also too low to cause lethality. In a series of laboratory studies in 2009, Cosco Busan oil demonstrated a potent phototoxic effect, whereby tissues are disrupted through an interaction between as yet identified compounds and sunlight. This phototoxic activity remained potent after two months of weathering. Embryos developing in the subtidal zone at oiled sites were presumably protected from this effect by the highly turbid water above them, while more intense exposure to sunlight in the intertidal zone led to lethality. Natural spawn sampled two years later from oiled sites showed no elevated necrosis or mortality, indicating that phototoxic activity was eliminated by much more prolonged weathering.
Section 6: Summary and Conclusions
•Incubation of caged herring embryos in the subtidal zone at oiled sites 3 months following the spill resulted in signs of canonical petrogenic PAH sublethal toxicity, characterized by reduced heart rate and pericardial edema. •Natural spawn deposited in the intertidal zones of oiled sites 3 months after the spill showed near complete mortality, characterized by acute necrosis of late-stage embryos (near hatching). •Signs of sublethal oil cardiotoxicity and acute late-stage mortality were absent at reference sites 3 months following the spill and at urban reference sites 15 month and 27 months following the spill. •Acute late-stage necrotic mortality was absent in natural spawn at re-sampled oiled site intertidal zones 27 months following the spill. •Forensic analytical chemistry focusing on PAHs showed very low levels (near detection limits) in both caged embryos (17-52 ppb) and natural spawn (18-81 ppb) from all sites. •Low levels coupled with high variability weakened standard comparative statistics for PAH data, but other methods support the presence of a petrogenic signal in embryos and PEMDS above background at oiled sites. •Increased petrogenic input at the most heavily oiled site, Keil Cove, was also supported by PEMD data. •Consistent with the persistent elevation of pericardial edema at Keil Cove, a petrogenic signal remained elevated in embryos from this heavily oiled site 27 months after the spill. •Under conditions of reduced UV exposure, Cosco Busan bunker oil produced canonical oil cardiotoxicity with a lowest effective tissue concentration in the range of 30-75 ppb. •Under conditions of normal UV exposure (i.e. unblocked), Cosco Busan bunker oil is both necessary and sufficient to cause an acute phototoxic response characterized by loss of tissue integrity (necrosis) in late stage herring embryos. •Cosco Busan bunker oil remained highly phototoxic even after 2 months of weathering in oiled gravel columns. These findings support the following conclusions: First, biological indicators such as herring embryos appear to be more sensitive for detecting oil-related adverse affects than current methods in analytical chemistry used for quantification of PAHs. Thus, an increased incidence of pericardial edema was detected in embryos incubated in the subtidal zone at oiled sites, despite lack of a clear chemical measure of exposure. The laboratory studies indicate that oil-induced pericardial edema occurs near and below the detection limits for tissue PAHs. Despite the inability to “fingerprint” Cosco Busan oil in embryos or PEMDs at all oiled sites, the highly consistent lethal phenotype observed in natural spawn indicates a common exposure at all oiled sites. The PEMD data indicate that each site has unique urban/maritime inputs of PAHs, therefore, an urban source cannot be the common exposure. Similarly, differences in salinity or temperature, potential exposure to sewage effluent, and other factors were not consistent among all the oiled sites. The one common factor to these sites was the presence of Cosco Busan oil detected by SCAT surveys. Therefore, the most parsimonious explanation for the collective findings is that an uncharacterized (i.e. non-PAH) and slowly weathering component of Cosco Busan bunker oil accumulated in natural spawn and then interacted with sunlight during low tides to produce lethal phototoxicity. Embryos in nearby cages, shielded by highly turbid San Francisco Bay water, exhibited canonical oil toxicity (i.e. bradycardia and pericardial edema) with no indication of a sunlight interaction. Recovery at oiled sites evident in 2010 natural spawn sampling are consistent with eventual loss of Cosco Busan oil toxicity with prolonged weathering, and indicate that other continuous urban background stressors were not the cause of sublethal or lethal toxicity in 2008.
Front. Mar. Sci., 10 January 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00418An Overview of Seabed Mining Including the Current State of Development, Environmental Impacts, and Knowledge GapsKathryn A. Miller1†, Kirsten F. Thompson1,2†, Paul Johnston1 and David Santillo1*
- 1Greenpeace Research Laboratories, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Innovation Centre Phase 2, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
- 2Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Geoffrey Pope, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00418/full
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