Mauritius Reopens its Blue-Bay Marine Park Post-Oil Spill

On Saturday, December 19, the National Crisis Committee authorised access to the waters of the Blue-Bay Marine Park — one of the jewels of the island, Mauritius.

This comes after several months of draining and intense cleanup efforts in light of the devastating oil spills from the wreck of the diesel and fuel carrying MV Wakashio vessel back on July 26.

The public will now be able to access the most popular beaches on the south-east coast of the island and restrictions have also been lifted for several popular public beaches — with swimming, diving and boat trips being permitted.

Nevertheless, fishing in the lagoon will remain prohibited and clean-up operations are still underway to try to erase the traces of the ecological disaster.

The National Crisis Committee has called on the public to be vigilant and stay away from areas indicated as potentially risky and also stated that clean-up teams are ready to intervene in case of an emergency involving the stern of the Wakashio.