Why the Mauritius oil spill is so serious

Some news said that the tanker got closed to island to connect Wi-Fi. OMG.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lexpress.mu&#x2F;article&#x2F;381284&#x2F;membres-dequipage-confirment-celebration-dun-anniversaire-bord-vraquier" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lexpress.mu&#x2F;article&#x2F;381284&#x2F;membres-dequipage-con...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.news24.jp&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2020&#x2F;08&#x2F;14&#x2F;10699738.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.news24.jp&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2020&#x2F;08&#x2F;14&#x2F;10699738.html</a>

Tangential but something that have been buging me for a while - these type events are not enough brought in to the equation when EVs are compared to ICEs.<p>I usually get comparisons to the refined gas&#x2F;diesel with the whole process of the battery.<p>Not saying batteries are great for the environment, but we have had so many leaks during the years. Deep horizon is still leaking and where almost at 1.000.000 m3 if I recall correctly.<p>At least with batteries the pollution is kept more localized, which I believe is to be preferred.

There doesn&#x27;t seem to be details about the cause of the collision as yet. However for a candid look at the grim reality of the maritime industry, and how these kinds of disasters are far too common, I highly recommend <i>The Outlaw Ocean</i> by Ian Urbina. The human trafficking elements are particularly disturbing.

Drone footage of the ship:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=mN3SyPM9m2U" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=mN3SyPM9m2U</a><p>Wikipedia article:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;MV_Wakashio_oil_spill" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;MV_Wakashio_oil_spill</a>

&gt;The ship, MV Wakashio, ran aground at Pointe d&#x27;Esny in late July, and oil began leaking from it last Thursday.<p>&gt;Fuel has been transferred to shore by helicopter and to another ship owned by the same Japanese firm, Nagashiki Shipping.<p>So they had more than a week to prevent this.

Why are these ships allowed to go anywhere near reefs?

Jets usually avoid flying low over cities in case of crash. Can&#x27;t oil tankers do something similar?

I rewatched the Drone footage [1] js2 linked to and I think I made the same logical error that the captain&#x2F;crew did; I mistook the breakwater as the edge of the reef and missed the slightly deeper ridge that juts out perpendicular to the island&#x2F;lagoon.<p>The &quot;coral ridge&quot; that they hit is obvious in the many photos that are shown in an image search results on &quot;aerial photo MV-Wakashio&quot;. I was surprised by the drone footage since it looks like the ship was perpendicular to the reef edge which means that the ship was heading directly at the large&#x2F;populated island at near full speed but this was not the case. They were probably running parallel to the breakwater and hit this hidden anomaly in the reef and then wave action trapped the ship in this literal corner. Without tugs I don&#x27;t think the ship could back out even if undamaged so I guess one outstanding question is whether a timely deployment of tug boats could have prevented the break-up of the ship.<p>The accident occurred at 8pm local time (16:00 UTC +4) so it was dark but the crew would have been awake. Tragic overconfidence.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=mN3SyPM9m2U" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=mN3SyPM9m2U</a>

What are the financial penalties for this? Cost of damages most interesting angle and not mentioned in article.<p>Company and leadership on boat should be held liable to the greatest extent possible. Set an example to curtail this sort of reckless behavior.

Somewhat related: this startup is supplying graphene based absorbent pads called Sorbene to help clean up some of the mess: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sorbene.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sorbene.com&#x2F;</a>

They couldn’t get the CEO to make a statement? A 2 minute rail delay gets an immediate apology from the CEO in Japanese companies - I guess destroying another country’s beauty and livelihood doesn’t warrant that.

With so many seafarers not being let on shore(and not having wifi on board), not being relieved, and working months past the end of their contracts, it&#x27;s only a matter of time before there are more accidents.

Since it&#x27;s not happening in our backyard, I doubt the majority will care. We&#x27;ll keep buying our precious cars, voting against green and nuclear, and continue our way of life unabated.<p>C&#x27;est la vie.

I posted a related article a few days ago <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.mongabay.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;08&#x2F;mauritius-grapples-with-worst-environmental-crisis-in-a-generation&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.mongabay.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;08&#x2F;mauritius-grapples-with-wo...</a>

It&#x27;s past time to move off fossil fuels. Join the EV revolution and let&#x27;s use the technology and engineering of the past to carry us to a future where we can look back at the ancient relics of Industrialization V1 and wonder how we were so primitive.

Will anyone get fined and will the processed from the fine go to help the local area?

Oil spills may not statistically happen that often, but they happen way too often. There has to be a way to prevent this from happening ever again.

Seems like a weird argument. So oil spills in unprotected areas are less serious because nature there is already impacted in other ways? Won&#x27;t make any difference to the animals and plants in the end.