Mauritius

PORT LOUIS, Oct 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The island nation of Mauritius has fully opened its doors to international visitors, hoping to rebuild its key tourism industry after long months of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The move on Friday was greeted with a mixture of optimism, relief and some caution in the Indian Ocean paradise.

“This reopening is inevitable because 100,000 families depend on tourism to live,” Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister Steven Obeegadoo said at a news conference.

PORT LOUIS, Aug 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius has hailed a decision by the UN postal agency to ban British stamps from being used on the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It marks a further step in the decades-long struggle to get back sovereignty of the islands from the UK.

The vote by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a United Nations agency focusing on the mail sector, follows a longstanding dispute between Mauritius and Britain over the Chagos Islands, where London and Washington operate a joint military base.

PORT LOUIS, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Chinese-flagged fishing vessel with 16 crew members carrying 130 tonnes of oil has run aground off Mauritius, causing a minor spill, a minister said.

“Nothing to be worried about,” Sudheer Maudhoo, whose Blue Economy Ministry looks after maritime affairs, said, saying 310 metres of floating booms were controlling the leak.

Drone footage showed dark patches in the Indian Ocean waters near the “Lu Rong Yuan Yu 588” after it ran aground on Sunday.

PORT LOUIS, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The broken stem of a Japanese-owned ship which ran aground causing a devastating oil spill in pristine waters off Mauritius, has been successfully sunk in the open ocean.

Nagashiki Shipping, which owns the MV Wakashio, said it had completed scuttling of the front part of the vessel at sea on Monday as instructed by local authorities. 

PORT LOUIS, Aug 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A ship that has leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of oil in pristine waters off the Mauritius coast has split into two, its Japanese operator said.

The bulk carrier MK Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the southeastern coast of Mauritius on July 25 and began oozing oil more than a week later, threatening a protected marine park boasting mangrove forests and endangered species.

Mauritius declared an environmental emergency and salvage crews raced against the clock to pump the remaining 3,000 tonnes of oil off the ship.

(Reuters) - A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday.

The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said.

“At around 4.30pm, a major detachment of the vessel’s forward section was observed,” it said in a statement. “On the basis of the experts’ advice, the towing plan is being implemented.”

PORT LOUIS, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The prime minister of Mauritius has announced the lifting of the strict coronavirus lockdown from Sunday.

Since March 20 the Indian Ocean island nation, a popular tourist destination, has only allowed people to leave their homes if they have a work permit.

Residents have also only been allowed out to supermarkets on certain days – dependent on first letter of their surname.

But Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said supermarkets and shops would be allowed to operate normally from May 31.

PORT LOUIS, May 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius declared wary victory in its first battle with coronavirus, saying it had “zero” active patients and had not documented a single new case in 17 days.

The Indian Ocean island nation initially surged ahead of other eastern African countries in terms of caseload, hitting a peak of 332 just shy of six weeks into its outbreak. Ten people died.

PORT LOUIS, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius closed its main airport and shops and other businesses in the capital also closed as the tropical cyclone Calvinia approached.

The Indian Ocean island’s meteorological service said Calvinia had remained almost stationary for some time at about 120 kilometres east of Mahebourg, a small village in southeastern Mauritius.

“A movement towards the west will bring the centre closer to Mauritius,” the weather service said in a statement. 

PORT LOUIS, Nov 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius’ ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) has won more than half of the seats in parliament, securing incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a five-year term, the final election results showed on Friday.

MSM won 38 of the 62 seats up for grabs while its rivals, the Labour Party and the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), garnered 13 and 9 seats respectively, the election commission said.

Two seats on the island of Rodrigues were won by the Organisation of the People of Rodrigues (OPR) party.