Mauritius Denies Bail to Wakashio’s Captain

A general view shows the bulk carrier ship MV Wakashio, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, that ran aground on a reef, at the Riviere des Creoles, Mauritius, August 11, 2020. REUTERS/Sumeet Mudhoo/L’Express Maurice NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

By Kamlesh Bhuckory (Bloomberg) — Mauritius rejected an application for bail made by Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the captain of the MV Wakashio that sunk off its southeastern coast in July.

The bulk carrier, owned by Nagashiki Shipping Co., was en route to Brazil from China when it ran aground and spilled oil, causing the tourist-dependent Indian Ocean island nation’s biggest environmental disaster.

“Given that the applicant may be charged with a serious offense and if found guilty a severe penalty may be imposed on him by the trial court, I am of the view that the risk to interfere with witnesses and the risk of absconding are real and plausible,” Acting Senior District Magistrate Neeshal K. Jugnauth said in Port Louis, the capital, on Tuesday.

Nandeshwar is provisionally charged with “unlawful interference with the operation of a property of a ship likely to endanger its safe navigation,” according to court documents.

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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