Vietnamese cargo ship which ran aground in Fuvahmulah has been re-floated

The Vietnamese cargo ship which ran aground at the south-eastern side of Fuvahmulah has finally been refloated on last Tuesday.

The ship ran aground with 5700 tons of cargo, almost a month ago. Several efforts were made before, finally it was re-floated on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, the president of Fuvahmulaku council, Abdullah Falaah said that oil was leaking to the sea from the ship as well.

Several parties have been raising concerns due to the fact that oil was leaking and that the ship was damaging the reef. The ship was travelling to Fuvahmulah with granite and other materials needed for Fuvahmulaku sewerage system.

During the refloating operation most of the cargo onboard the vessel was unloaded to the sea. The ship could not be re-floated earlier due to rough weathers experienced all over the Maldives in the past few weeks.

Sources say that EPA is now analyzing the extent of the damage that was caused by the incident. In incidents like this, the responsible party can be fined up to 100 million dollars according to environmental protection laws of the Maldives. Few years back a similar incident occurred in Addu and the ship was given a hefty fine.
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