ABSTRACT
Mauritius, like other African coastal States, is vulnerable to oil spills. An estimated 30 per cent of the world’s petroleum is being transported in the Indian Ocean Region. Besides, there are prospects for oil and gas exploration in offshore Mauritian and Seychelles maritime territories in the coming years. After grounding the MV Wakashio on the reefs on the Southeast coast in July 2020, Mauritius was hit with one of its worst environmental disasters with very low sulphur fuel oils (VSLFO) leaking into its pristine marine waters.
Although the spillage could have been prevented, timely interventions by the national authorities and/or the owner/insurer of the ship regarding the shipwreck were lacking, and the vessel’s condition deteriorated on the reefs, resulting in a breach of a bunker fuel tank on August 6, 2020, with leakage of blended fuels into the marine environment. More importantly, this environmental catastrophe occurred despite the existence of Mauritius’ national oil spill contingency plan, an institutional mechanism to prevent an oil spill and legislation on disaster management and the protection of the environment.
Despite the existence of a regional mechanism in response to marine pollution incidents under the 1985 Convention for the Protection, Management, and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region (Nairobi Convention), technical and financial assistance to fight this oil spill mainly came from France, India, Japan, and the International Maritime Organisation after Mauritius declared “national environmental emergency” calling for international help. This chapter discusses the regulatory response for an oil spill case in Mauritius in light of regional cooperation. It draws lessons from its weaknesses and makes recommendations to improve oil spill preparedness and its environmental governance system.
