Divers look into fuel down ship sunk off Tunisia

Divers on Sunday inspected the hull of a tanker loaded with 750 tonnes of fuel that sank off southeastern Tunisia, without a leak detected thus far, officers stated.

“With the improvement in weather conditions, a team of divers accompanied by the ship’s captain and engineer who know its layout are on-site to examine the hull,” Mohamed Karray, spokesman for the court in Gabes city, which is investigating Saturday’s sinking, told AFP.

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo turned into journeying from Egypt to Malta while it went down.

Images launched by the environment and defence ministries showed divers heading for the website inside the Gulf of Gabes and then moving into the water at the scene that has been sealed off with the aid of Tunisia’s army.

Defence ministry photos showed the vessel largely submerged.

The crew of the Xelo had issued a distress call on Friday evening and sought shelter in Tunisian waters from bad weather before going down, authorities said.

Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui, who travelled to the port of Gabes on Saturday to help oversee the response, said the situation was “under control”.

“We think the hull is still watertight and there is no leakage for the moment,” she told AFP.

As a precaution, protective booms to contain any oil slick have been placed around the wreck.

The Tunisia department of the World Wildlife Fund expressed challenges about some other “environmental catastrophe” inside the vicinity, a crucial fishing region that has already suffered from pollutants.

The tanker is 58 metres (63 yards) long and 9 metres wide, in keeping with the ship-tracking website vesseltracker.Com.

It started taking on water around seven kilometres (4 miles) offshore within the Gulf of Gabes and the engine room become engulfed, consistent with the surroundings ministry.

It stated Tunisian government rescued the seven-member team, who obtained the first useful resource and had been accommodated in a motel.