MOL refutes online news article on Wakashio oil spill

By Baird Maritime - January 20, 2021.

*Photo: International Maritime Organisation*

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has released a statement on its website in response to an article published on Forbes.com on January 6 titled “Explosive Documents Reveal BP Behind Toxic Mauritius Oil Spill.”

In its statement, MOL said that it, “fundamentally disagrees with and rejects the analysis made in the article based on the misleading interpretation of unconnected information and comes to seriously flawed conclusions.”

MOL added that the cause of the incident involving the ill-fated bulk carrier Wakashio is being investigated by local authorities and is expected to become public in the Mauritius courts in due course.

The company commented that it has and will continue to fully assist with such investigations and rejects any assertion that it has attempted to impede or hinder these steps.

The statement went on to say that it has been established that no mechanical issues whatsoever were involved in the grounding, which appears from early reports to have been solely due to safety and navigational issues. Further, there have been no reports whatsoever that Wakashio had any mechanical or fuel problems in the period leading up to the grounding and the article produces no such evidence.

MOL has previously reported on its preliminary conclusions in December 2020 and says it has no reason or information that would cause the analysis to be amended.

“The very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) purchased by MOL as time charterer and loaded in Singapore was fully tested by our fuel quality testing system, which showed that the supplied oil was fully on specification with international standards including ISO-8217-2020,” the company added.

“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that there were problems with the fuel oil or the use of that fuel in the main engine of the Wakashio that could have caused the incident.”

MOL concluded its statement by saying it sees no basis in fact for the analysis and unfounded conclusions in the Forbes.com article and totally rejects the unwarranted allegations.