By Freedom Muranda and Wallace Mawire

The Wakashio ship Captain who was arrested in August 2020 confirmed that he allowed the ship to get close to shore to search for an internet connection so that he’s crew would connect with their families and maintain a high morale. He made this admission whilst appearing in court. Captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar is being charged with endangering safe navigation, and environmental pollution. Local police deny that the ship sailed close to land seeking a Wi-Fi signal. They mentioned that looking for a phone signal did not require sailing so close to land. The ship’s vessel operator Mitsui OSK Lines states that their Ships had access to free and unlimited internet access. The ship then failed to respond to warnings of the errant course Early in the evening of 25 July 2020 in Mauritius, East Africa, MV Wakashio ran aground and split into two causing oil to leak. This incident brought attention from international media organisations for several months. Captain Nandeshwar acknowledged that he allowed the ship to about 5 nautical miles to shore, whiles sailing to 15 nautical miles from the shore. According to Mauritius local media, crew members admitted to having been given permission to celebrate a birthday party and they had got intoxicated by the time the accident happened. The Japanese MOL released an internal investigation report on the incident. This report identified the crew member’s unsafe behaviour which contributed to the incident and it also had a number of safety measures to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.

It is estimated that approximately 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the Indian Ocean in what scientists term the worst environmental disaster to ever occur in Mauritius, East Africa. The Mauritian government declared the MV Wakashio oil spill incident a national emergency. MV Wakashio grounding happened at an area listed under the Ramsar convention on wetlands of international importance. The area is near the marine park of Blue Bay. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, who is the Prime Minister of Mauritius declared a “state of environmental emergency” and requested French help on 7 August. “When biodiversity is in peril, there is urgency to act,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted. You can count on our support dear Jugnauth.” The French government sent military and civilian equipment and personnel from its overseas territory of Reunion to offer support in the incident.

The Maritime Executive reported they during the court case an audio recording from the ship’s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) that captured the conversation about steering close to shore was played. The captain testified that he had done similar manoeuvres in the past. Captain Nandeshwar admitted having left the bridge to go to the previously reported birthday party taking place in the crew mess. The captain confessed for the first time that he had been drinking at the party so he did not want to intervene in the navigation when he returned to the bridge. According to the chief officer the captain was seated in the pilot’s chair using his phone whilst trying to get a signal when the MV Wakashio vessel went aground. The captain then issued commands trying to back the vessel off the reef after grounding.
Local media reports some fresh details that emerged in court that two of the vessel’s ballast pumps were not working due to a short circuit preventing the ship from fully deballasting after the grounding. Engineers also said they were concerned about causing an environmental issue if they deballasted polluted water to which the investigators highlighted that the regulations permitted the ship to dump mixed water in an emergency that was endangering the ship. The Japanese shipowner and the ship manager are took responsibility for the failures of the crew and they presented new policies and procedures that were designed to address the deficiencies and improve the safety and operation of their ships.

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