A Race Against Time to Stop a Cargo Ship Breaking Up on a Mauritius Coral Reef

Rescue teams are racing to pump an estimated three,000 metric tons of oil from a Japanese-operated bulk carrier stranded on a coral reef off Mauritius in advance of the ship breaks up completely.

The 984-foot-extended MV Wakashio is slowly and gradually coming aside soon after running aground on July 25. Previously, far more than 1,000 metric tons of bunker fuel have spilled out, polluting coral reefs, lagoons and pristine shoreline along the Indian Ocean island’s southeast coastline.

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