On Saturday morning, a bunker tanker that was sailing from Egypt to Malta sank off the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia.
As mentioned, the tanker was carrying around 750-1000 mt of diesel during the incident and was threatening to release up to 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil into the water.
The vessel is the Turkish-operated Xelo, a 1,000 dwt bunker tanker built in 1977 and flagged in Cameroon. Seven crewmembers were evacuated by Tunisian authorities, however, the vessel sank in water. The bad weather at the time of the incident was a contributing factor for the vessel’s sinking.
There are minimal leaks, which are not even visible to the naked eye and fortunately the oil is evaporating, so there should not be a disaster in the Gulf of Gabes
…said a regional government spokesman.
Up to this moment, no fuel spill has been detected. The salvors are making plans to pump out the vessel’s tanks.
⛴Tunisia #Xelo sinking ship: critical situation but the good news that the ship was carrying diesel,rather than denser crude oil.The light fraction,or weight, of the fuel means it sits more easily on the sea's surface. Authorities are working on field now. We cross fingers 😔 pic.twitter.com/svtZqUMrcj
— Dr. Oula Amrouni د.عُلا العمروني (@OulaAmrouni) April 17, 2022
#Photos of the tanker #XELO which sank off Gabes, south-east of #Tunisia, on Friday evening because of bad weather, sparking a rush to avoid a spill.
The Equatorial Guinea-flagged ship was carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to #Malta.
#Environment #Pollution pic.twitter.com/jAQZRJC2IX— Mourad TEYEB (مــراد التـائـب) (@MouradTeyeb) April 16, 2022
