A fuel tanker that sank in waters off
Tunisia last weekend was empty, the
government said on Friday, ruling out the risk of pollution.
اضافة اعلان
The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was thought to have been carrying 750 tonnes
of diesel when it went down en route between Egypt and Malta on Saturday.
"The Xelo ship that sank in the Gulf of Gabes does not contain diesel
and its tanks are empty," the environment ministry said. "It poses no
immediate pollution risk."
The authorities would now examine the possibility of refloating and towing
the wreck at a later stage, it said in a statement.
It did not explain the confusion behind its original statement last Saturday
that the ship had been transporting 750 tonnes of diesel.
The Tunisian judiciary opened an investigation to determine the cause of the
accident.
The ship's seven crew members were banned from leaving the country for two
weeks, pending the outcome of the probe.
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