Oil Spill: A New National Response Plan Approved by the Cabinet

The Cabinet approved a fully revised version of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) on Friday, aimed at enhancing Mauritius's ability to prevent and effectively manage accidental oil spills at sea.

Among the main innovations of the new system is a change in the intervention mechanism. From now on, the assessment of the response will no longer rely solely on the volume of oil spilled.

The environmental sensitivity of the affected area will also be taken into account to tailor operations more effectively.

The plan also includes the integration of trained volunteers in operations during oil spill threats.

These responders include fishermen, maritime workers, NGOs, and women's associations. They will receive specialized training on oil spill management, provided continuously by seven Mauritian officers trained in Japan with the technical assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Another significant change is the establishment of a co-leadership for operations. These will now be jointly led by the Director of Environment and the Director of Shipping to improve on-ground coordination.

As part of this revision, the roles and responsibilities of several institutions have also been redefined, including those of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre, the Beach Authority, the Mauritius Hydrographic Service, the Mauritius Oceanography Institute, the Department of Continental Shelf and Maritime Zone Administration, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, as well as NGOs and volunteers.

In terms of logistics, the anti-pollution equipment available at the Special Mobile Force (SMF) and the National Coast Guard (NCG) includes floating barriers, skimmers, tanks for storing recovered hydrocarbons, and oil absorbents.

Procedures for acquiring additional floating barriers are also being finalized.

The Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management, and Climate Change, Rajesh Bhagwan, recalled that the grounding of the MV Wakashio in 2020 was a real eye-opener.

According to him, this incident highlighted the limitations of the previous plan, which dated back to 2003, and made its revision a priority to address gaps and improve the country's response capacity.

The new plan also takes into account the recommendations from the Inquiry Court regarding the Wakashio case. The minister emphasized the crucial contribution of volunteers and civil society organizations during the cleanup operations in 2020, noting that some of their suggestions have been incorporated into the updated system.

Additionally, a new mapping of the areas most exposed to oil spills along the coasts of Mauritius and Rodrigues has been completed.

It is noteworthy that the first national contingency plan dates back to 1990 and was developed with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It was subsequently revised in 2003 in collaboration with the Indian Ocean Commission as part of a regional project supported by the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank.