Ship That Ran Aground In Mauritius Was Near Coastline For WiFi, Crew Was Having Birthday Party

As the investigation into the grounding of Japanese ship Wakashio on a reef near UNESCO protected sites in Mauritius continues, the local investigators have made some unusual findings.

The crew of the stricken MV Wakashio, which crashed off the coast of Mauritius on the evening of July 25 were celebrating a crew member's birthday and veered off course in search of a wifi signal, according to reports emerging in local media.

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It was first reported by local newspaper L¡¯Express ¨C come from investigators who have interviewed the crew of the Japanese-owned, Panamanian-flagged ship.

If the allegations are true, the 58-year-old captain of the ill-fated ship could face negligence charges.

The Panama Maritime Authority had earlier suggested the ship ran into difficulty because of bad weather, although data providers have shown there was no inclement weather around southern Mauritius at the time of the accident.

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Following the incident, Mauritius declared an environmental emergency and salvage crews raced against the clock to pump the remaining 3,000 tonnes of oil off the stricken vessel.

On Monday, authorities confirmed that the ship that has leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of oil in pristine waters has split in two.

"It was confirmed on August 15 that the vessel has broken into two," the ship's operator Mitsui OSK Lines said in a statement Sunday, noting that the information came from the vessel's owner, Nagashiki Shipping.

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The split was caused by a crack in a cargo hold at the vessel's stern, Mitsui said.

Officials had been bracing for the development for days, and images taken on Saturday indicated it was inevitable, with the two pieces only partly attached.

Nearly all the remaining 3,000 tonnes of oil had been pumped off the ship by that time, though there were still 90 tonnes on board, much of it residue from the leakage.

Mitsui noted on Sunday that "an amount of unrecovered oil is believed to have leaked out of the vessel," without elaborating.

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Thousands of Mauritians have volunteered day and night to clean the powder-blue waters that have long attracted honeymooners and tourists.

The spill is both an environmental and economic disaster for Mauritius, which relies heavily on tourism.

The spill already qualifies as the Indian Ocean island nation's "worst ecological disaster", Greenpeace Africa campaigner Happy Khambule said, adding that it "puts unique species under immediate threats".

Now that the ship has split, the salvage team intends to pull the front two-thirds out to sea using two tugboats to avoid further damage to the Mauritian coastline, a police official in the capital Port Louis told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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The remaining portion is still stuck on the reef and officials have not yet determined how they might remove it, the official said.

That portion includes the ship's engine room, which still contains 30 cubic metres of oil, and rough weather will complicate efforts to pump that oil out, according to a statement on Sunday from the Mauritian crisis committee formed to respond to the spill.

Nagashiki, the owner, has pledged to "sincerely" respond to requests for compensation over damage to the marine environment.