Satellite Imagery Captures Wakashio Being Towed Toward Antarctica As Mystery Of Ship Deepens

Overhead satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies
MAXR
taken on Wednesday 19 August captured the forward section of the Wakashio wreck being towed out to sea in the direction of Antarctica on Wednesday 19 August. In this set of satellite imagery, the wreck could clearly be seen 16 kilometers Southeast of Pointe D’Esny, Mauritius.

This was the first time that the vessel had been off the reefs since it had been beached on 25 July 2020.

The co-ordinates of the Wakashio at that time was at -20.499, 57.863, which show it in a direction heading toward Antarctica. The Wakashio was in the largest category of ships in the world, a Capesize, with a hull the length just short of a Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier at over 300m.

The images from just after 7.30am on Wednesday 19 August, show the two support vessels making a wide circle around the forward section of the Wakashio.

The cargo bays of the Wakashio which is used to carry heavy iron ore, can be seen to be fully open, as the vessel is towed toward the Southern Ocean.

Silence on Wakashio’s final destination

To date, there has been no comment from the shipowner, Nagashiki Shipping, the Government of Mauritius, the Government of France present on the scene through the French Overseas Minister, Sebastien Lecornuu, the Government of Japan who have six experts present or the international regulator, the International Maritime Organization who have a specialist present and advising local officials.

In a world of 24 hour media, satellites and expected transparency, social media and industry chat rooms have been filled with rumors about why such a need for secrecy.

Whose decision was it to take the Wakashio out to sea? To what destination? Was that a unanimous decision? Why was a statement not issued?

In today’s age, there should be full transparency on the rationale given for such a decision, especially in an industry that claims the world can trust it to regulate itself to meet sustainability goals. The world has called for transparency amid a coronavirus pandemic, but it appears that global shipping continues to hide its dirty secrets in the deep ocean.

The Wakashio: A symbol of Broken Trust

If the accident of the Wakashio was genuine, then all attempts to clean up the spill and manage the aftermath should be handled in an open and transparent manner, using the best science available, and international expertise who had been offering support from around the world.

The lack of transparency has eroded trust between a people forced to cut their hair to build homemade oil protection booms, and powerful corporate interests who had driven the vessel uninterrupted for four days and appear to be less than transparent with an agreed upon plan for disposal.

Out of sight and out of touch

It is also a story about an industry that cannot even measure its own harm that it creates, so questions are raised about how robust any Environmental Impact Assessment is for any decision on where the Wakashio ends up.

This is now not just a story about a terrible shipping disaster, but raises deeper questions about the role of corporate responsibility, securing the trust and transparency needed to speak with the communities impacted and now the emotional harm of not revealing the destination of a vessel that had been such a presence for 26 days.

Questions are also raised about the role of the international regulator, the International Maritime Organization, in supporting the decision to possibly sink a vessel at sea without issuing any public statement on its website or environmental impact assessment that international scientists could validate, and who had offered their support.

It also raises even more questions about the role of France and Japan, with French French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu, present in Mauritius to offer international advice.

Both the leaders of France and Japan, President Macron and Prime Minister Abe, have positioned themselves as the face of change in the fight to save global biodiversity, climate and the ocean. These credentials appear to be left falling severely short, as new technologies such a high resolution satellite imagery hold world leaders to another level of accountability.

The Wakashioa may have left Mauritius’ shores, but the list questions keep getting longer.

Strong condemnation by Greenpeace

In a statement on its website on 19 August, Greenpeace Africa issued a very strong condemnation of any decision to dump the Wakashio at sea.

Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, said, “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.” 

The MV Wakashio is being towed by two Maltese-flagged vessels, the Boka Summit and Boka Expedition.

As a party to the London Convention 1972, Malta is required to prohibit and prevent its vessels from dumping waste including vessels at sea, if polluting content has not been removed to the maximum extent. 

Ayako Sekine, Greenpeace Japan Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner, said, “Hiding the problem is not going to solve it. By sinking the ship Nagashiki Shipping Co ltd. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are adopting a typical trick of the oil industry – burying their problems and expecting the world to move on. They can choose to do the right thing to reduce the damage to people and the planet at risk.” 

Mauritius-based human rights organization, Dis Moi, issued a statement through Vijay Naraidoo, saying, “Dis Moi and Greenpeace Africa stand with the affected communities in Mauritius and expect the polluters to pay for this environmental catastrophe. This means ignoring the cheapest, fastest option and instead putting the ocean and the people first.”

Narrative of a ‘rogue employee’

The previous day on Tuesday 18 August, the captain of the Wakashio had been arrested in Mauritius for allegedly having being at a birthday event and dereliction of duty. The speed with which a narrative has formed of a ‘rogue employee’ going against company protocols has surprised many, who expected a more thorough explanation of the full set of reasons that caused the biggest oil spill in the Indian Ocean, with the full extent of the spill not even known yet.

58-year-old Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, was charged with endangering safe navigation, Mauritian Police said. He has not yet commented.

Upon a request to the owners of the Wakashio, Nagashiki Shipping Co Ltd, for a copy of their training procedures, performance management framework, bridge safeguarding and security of the vessel, previous performance history of the captain as well as others employed by the Nagashiki Shipping Co Ltd, Forbes has still not received this information.

In what has created the greatest ecological disaster in the Indian Ocean, with the international regulator not knowing the effects of this VLSFO fuel in tropical waters of a coral lagoon and the lack of transparency around what truly happened to the single-hulled Wakashio, means that the eyes of the international media is likely to follow this story for a lot longer to come.

A country wants answers, and now so it seems, does the world.