Freighter sunk off Tunisia – environmental catastrophe imminent

The Tunisian government has activated an emergency plan: a tanker has sunk off the coast and 750 tons of diesel could spill into the sea. Now the authorities are trying to prevent that.

According to the government, fuel is threatening to leak from a sunken freighter off the coast of Tunisia. The Tunisian Ministry of the Environment announced on Saturday that an emergency plan had been activated to prevent an environmental disaster.

The ship is located in the Gulf of Gabès around seven kilometers off the coast and has around 750 tons of diesel on board. Floating barriers should prevent spilled fuel from spreading, it said. This should also be vacuumed. In an earlier statement, the ministry said the situation was under control. The island of Djerba, popular with holidaymakers, is also located in the Gulf of Gabès.

According to the ministry, the ship was on its way from the Egyptian port city of Damietta to Malta. Due to bad weather, it was forced to anchor off the coast of Tunisia on Friday evening. The water penetrated two meters into the engine room. The crew of seven had been brought overboard.