Tunisian officials on Sunday confirmed divers detected no leakage after inspecting the tanker loaded with 750 tons of fuel that sank off southeastern Tunisia, reported Africa News.
The Tunisian environment ministry said the ship has settled on its side at a depth of almost 20 meters. It confirmed that no leak has been detected.
The inspection was carried out by divers accompanied by the ship’s captain and engineer, said Mohamed Karray, spokesman for a court in Gabes city that is investigating the sinking.
The ship, Xelo, was heading from Equatorial Guinea to Malta when it sank seven miles off the coast of the southern city of Gabes on Friday. The crew of the sunken-ship had made a distress call on Friday evening and sought shelter in Tunisian waters before going down.
The Tunisian navy rescued all the seven crew members. They were provided first aid and were moved to a hotel. The ship was carrying between 750 tons and 1,000 tons of fuel, officials said.
On Saturday, Tunisian authorities opened an investigation into the sinking, which the environment ministry said was caused by bad weather.
The Tunisian branch of the World Wildlife Fund had also expressed concern about another environmental catastrophe in the region, an important fishing zone that has already suffered from pollution.
On Sunday, Rabie El Majidi, the Tunisian Minister of Transport said during the search operation the rescue workers found that the valves of the ship were closed, and they ensured that the valves were sealed and intact.
“The situation is not dangerous, the outlook is positive, the ship is stable because luckily it ran aground on sand,” he informed.
The minister said now the priority is to pump the diesel fuel out of the ship and prevent any spillage or pollution.
The coast of Gabes has been subject to major pollution for the last few years, with industrial plants in the area dumping their waste directly into the sea.
