History of a disaster: A baseline assessment of the Wakashio oil spill on the coast of Mauritius, Indian Ocean

Sankaran Rajendran; V M Aboobacker; Vashist O Seegobin; Jassim A Al Khayat; Nelson Rangel-Buitrago; Hamad Al-Saad Al-Kuwari; Fadhil N Sadooni; Ponnumony Vethamony

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113330

History of a disaster: A baseline assessment of the Wakashio oil spill on the coast of Mauritius, Indian Ocean

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Feb:175:113330. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113330. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Sankaran Rajendran¹, V M Aboobacker², Vashist O Seegobin³, Jassim A Al Khayat², Nelson Rangel-Buitrago⁴, Hamad Al-Saad Al-Kuwari², Fadhil N Sadooni², Ponnumony Vethamony²

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, P.B. No. 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: srajendran@qu.edu.qa.
² Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, P.B. No. 2713, Doha, Qatar.
³ Department of Biosciences and Ocean Studies, University of Mauritius, Le Réduit, Mauritius.
⁴ Programas de Física - Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Atlántico, Barranquilla, Colombia.

PMID: 35066411
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113330

Abstract

Oil spills from tanker ships provide adverse and irreversible impacts of a pollutant over coastal and marine environments. Using Sentinel-1 and 2 satellite images, this baseline paper presents the detection, assessment, and monitoring of the aground and further oil spill from the Wakashio ship of August 06, 2020, on the Mauritius coast. The oil spill started on August 06, after cracks developed on the hull, and continued until the total breakup of the ship on August 15, 2020. Data shows displacements in ship position of about 100 m, and a maximum change of 80° in orientation (from NS to NE). The remote sensing results were validated using met-ocean observations and reanalysis, which showed winds, waves, and tides of high magnitude at the accident site during the incident period. Analysis of the results of this event using REAS and CMEMS data indicate their usefulness to study similar future oil spills events.

Keywords: Coral reef; Mauritius; Met-Ocean data; Oil spill; Sentinel data; Wakashio grounding.

MeSH terms

Disasters*
Indian Ocean
Mauritius
Petroleum Pollution* / analysis
Ships