Sunken fuel ship inspection eases fears of Tunisia environmental disaster

Divers report no leaks were detected from loaded vessel lying off the coast of Gabes city

Tunisia's Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui, centre, tours the port in Gabes after a merchant fuel ship sank off the coast. AFP

Ms Chikhaoui gathers information from the officials at the port. AFP

Ms Chikhaoui takes stock of the situation. AFP

Ms Chikhaoui held a meeting after surveying the port. Reuters

The 'Xelo' sails off Rostov-on-Don, Russia, in November 2017. It sank with a cargo of at least 750 tonnes of diesel. Reuters

A screengrab showing the sinking ship. Reuters

The merchant ship sank in Gulf of Gabes, off Tunisia's south-eastern coast . Reuters

Waves lash the shore along a beach in Gabes. Reuters

Inflatable barriers at the port of Gabes. Reuters

Divers have not discovered any leaks from a tanker loaded with 750 tonnes of fuel that sank off south-east Tunisia, raising hopes that it can be salvaged before it can leak and cause an environmental disaster.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo, which sank on Saturday in the Gulf of Gabes, has settled on its side at a depth of almost 20 metres, the Environment Ministry said.

“No leak has been detected,” it said after divers inspected the ship on Sunday.

Divers were 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 was travelling from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta when it requested permission to enter Tunisian waters on Friday evening because of bad weather.

Its seven-member crew were rescued from the ship on Saturday, after it began taking on water.

Transport Minister Rabie Majidi said rescue workers had checked during the operation that the ship's valves for loading and unloading its diesel cargo were closed. Divers ensured they were sealed and intact, he said.

“The situation is not dangerous, the outlook is positive, the ship is stable because luckily it ran aground on sand,” Mr Majidi said on Sunday.

He said the priority was to pump out the diesel and prevent any spillage or pollution.

The Xelo is 58 metres long and nine metres wide, according to the ship monitoring website vesseltracker.com.

Italy is sending a specialist ship for cleaning up marine pollution, along with a team of divers to assist in the operation, an Italian official said.

Protective booms have been placed around the ship to contain any spillage.

Tunisian Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui visited the port of Gabes on Saturday to assess the situation.

Officials are investigating the itinerary of the tanker, which reportedly has Turkish and Libyan owners.

The Tunisia branch of the World Wildlife Fund has expressed concern about another “environmental catastrophe” in the region, an important fishing zone.

It said the area where the ship went down was a fishing ground for 600 fishermen.

The environmental group said the wider Gulf of Gabes provided employment for about 34,000 fishermen, who had been contending with chemical pollution for decades.