Tunisia: divers inspect the hull of the shipwrecked tanker in the Gulf of Gabès

Published on: 04/17/2022 – 15:59 The day after the sinking of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Gabes, divers started hull inspection operations on Sunday to measure the risk of pollution. Divers began Sunday, April 17, to inspect the hull of an oil tanker, loaded with 750 tons of diesel, which sank the day before in the Gulf of Gabes, near the coast of southeastern Tunisia. For the moment, no pollution has been detected according to the authorities. The nature defense organization WWF has however warned of “a new environmental disaster in the region” of Gabès, an important fishing area which has around 400,000 inhabitants and has already suffered episodes of pollution. No leaks spotted In images from the Ministries of the Environment and Defense, we see military navy divers preparing to leave, then jumping into the water on the site of the sinking “In favor of an improvement in the weather, a team of divers accompanied by the captain and the engineer of the ship, who know the configuration, go to the site to examine the hull”, indicated to the AFP, the spokesman for the court of Gabès, Mohamed Karray, who opened an investigation into the causes of the sinking. According to the first official findings, there has been “no leak for the moment” on the transported cargo by the ship.The tanker Xel o, which left the port of Damietta, Egypt, and was heading for Malta, sank on Saturday in Tunisian waters where it had taken refuge on Friday evening due to bad weather conditions. For an unknown reason, the 58 meters long and 9 wide, loaded with 750 tons of diesel fuel, began to take on water. The authorities then proceeded to evacuate the seven crew members before the ship sank into the sea at dawn. On a video from the Ministry of the Environment, we only see the tip of a mast. emerging from the waves. The area is controlled by the army and inaccessible to the press. “Light repairs” Claiming to be able to avoid major pollution, the authorities have announced the installation of floating booms as well as the pumping of the cargo or the towing of the ship. They say they have received offers of aid from foreign countries, without saying which ones. According to local media, Italy would have offered a ship specializing in the management of maritime disasters. “We believe that the means deployed will make it possible to circumscribe the accident” and avoid major pollution, declared on Saturday the Minister of Environment, Leila Chikhaoui to AFP. She went to the site of the sinking at dawn on Sunday. The Ministry of Transport indicated for its part that it wanted to “verify the exact commercial nature of the ship and its course in recent weeks”. from April 4 to 8 in the Tunisian port of Sfax, a large industrial city located north of Gabès, “to change crews, refuel and make light repairs, without loading or unloading”. With AFP