In difficulty since Friday evening, a ship carrying nearly 750 tonnes of diesel oil sank off the southeast coast of Tunisia on Saturday April 16.
“The ship sank this morning in Tunisian territorial waters. For the moment, there is no leak,” local court spokesman Mohamed Karray said, adding that a “disaster prevention commission will meet to decide on the measures to be taken.”
The merchant ship Xelo had asked Friday evening to enter Tunisian waters due to bad weather conditions, the environment ministry said in a statement.
Environmental Disaster: Shipwreck #Xelo16 April in the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia ,Mediterranean transporting 75 Tonnes of Diesel Fuel #pollution #shipwreck #crisis pic.twitter.com/8q10VgVXV6
— Dr. Oula Amrouni د.عُلا العمروني (@OulaAmrouni) April 16, 2022
While it was about 7 km from the coast of the Gulf of Gabès (south-east), the merchant ship began to take on water, with infiltrations in the engine room, and rising to nearly two meters in height.
The ship, whose crew was rescued and flying the flag of Equatorial Guinea (IMO number 7618272), was heading for the European island of Malta from the Egyptian port of Damietta.