TUNIS: A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to Malta sank Saturday off Tunisia’s southeast coast, but officials said a large spill could be avoided.

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

The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was headed from the Egyptian port of Damietta to the European island of Malta when it requested entry to Tunisian waters.

The tanker is 58 metres long and nine metres wide, according to ship monitoring website vesseltracker.com. It began taking water around seven kilometres offshore in the Gulf of Gabes and the engine room was engulfed, according to a Tunisian environment ministry statement.

In an interview aired on state television, Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui said on Saturday “the situation is under control”.

According to Mohamed Karray, spokesman for a court in Gabes, “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.”

Authorities have activated “the national emergency plan for the prevention of marine pollution with the aim of bringing the situation under control and avoiding the spread of pollutants”. The defence, interior, transport and customs ministries were working to avoid “a marine environmental disaster in the region and limit its impact”, the environment ministry added.

Mr Karray said the Georgian captain, four Turks and two Azerbaijanis were briefly hospitalised before being shifted to a hotel.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2022