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A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel gasoline from Egypt to Malta sank within the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia’s south-east coast, sparking a rush to keep away from a spill.
The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was crusing from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta when it requested entry to Tunisian waters on Friday night owing to dangerous climate.
“The ship sank this morning in Tunisian territorial waters. For the second, there isn’t a leak,” native courtroom spokesman Mohamed Karray mentioned.
A catastrophe prevention committee would meet within the coming hours “to resolve on the measures to be taken”, he added.
The tanker is 58 metres (190 ft) lengthy and 9 metres extensive, based on ship monitoring web site vesseltracker.com.
It started taking over water about seven kilometres (4 miles) offshore within the Gulf of Gabes and the engine room was engulfed, based on a Tunisian surroundings ministry assertion.
It mentioned Tunisian authorities evacuated the seven-member crew.
The surroundings minister, Leila Chikhaoui, was travelling to Gabes “to judge the scenario … and take crucial preventive selections in coordination with the regional authorities”, the ministry mentioned.
Authorities had activated “the nationwide emergency plan for the prevention of marine air pollution with the purpose of bringing the scenario underneath management and avoiding the unfold of pollution”.
Karray mentioned the Georgian captain, 4 Turks and two Azerbaijanis have been briefly hospitalised for checks and have been now in a resort.
The defence, inside, transport and customs ministries have been working to keep away from “a marine environmental catastrophe within the area and restrict its affect”, the surroundings ministry mentioned.
Earlier than the ship sank, it had described the scenario as “alarming” however “underneath management”.
The Gulf of Gabes was historically a fishing space however activists say it has suffered from air pollution from phosphate processing industries based mostly close to town of Gabes.
The final maritime accident involving the nation was in October 2018, when Tunisian freighter Ulysse crashed into the Cyprus-based Virginia anchored about 30km off the northern tip of Corsica, sending a whole lot of tonnes of gasoline spilling into the Mediterranean.
It took a number of days of maritime manoeuvres to disentangle the boats and pump about 520 cubic metres (18,365 cubic ft) of propulsion gasoline which had escaped tanks.
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