Bulk carrier Wakashio (IMO 9337119) ran aground on a reef off Mauritius during the evening of Saturday July 25th, despite warnings from the local coast guard that the ship was travelling too near the shore. The vessel was en route from China to Brazil.
Booms have been put in place and salvage companies are on standby to handle the operation to remove the vessel, which comes in at more than 200,000 dwt, from its position some 900 metres from the shoreline in the southeast of Mauritius.
The coast guard said that it had tried to contact the ship’s captain for an hour on Saturday evening to warn that the vessel’s routing looked dangerous. When the coast guard officials got through to the master, they said that the captain insisted that the planned route was safe. A few minutes later the ship radioed local authorities to say the vessel had grounded on a reef.
2007-built, Panama-flagged, 101,932 gt Wakashio is owned by Okiyo Maritime Corp care of manager Nagashiki Shipping Co Ltd of Kasaoka-shi, Okayama-ken, Japan. It is entered with Japan Club (Kobe Office in charge) on behalf of Okiyo Maritime Corp.