The corals, lagoons and paradisiacal beaches of  Mauritius  will take at least 10 years to recover  from the damage caused by an oil spill from a Panamanian flagged  ship

The Japanese owned  MV Wakashio traveling from China to Brazil, was not  transporting  cargo, but it is estimated that it carried more than 200 tons of diesel and 3,800 of fuel for its own consumption.

The crew of 20 were rescued when the ship ran aground and fuel leaked into the ocean leading to a massive clean up mission aided by France and Japan.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), is cooperating with the  International Maritime Organization (IMO), to investigate the causes of the accident.

The affected area is a region of coral reefs , which had been rehabilitating for about fifteen years, and also of great marine and terrestrial diversity, with important natural reserves a few kilometers away.

The spill is already considered one of the worst crises in the history of the island

According to an estimate by Mauritian oceanographer and environmental expert Vassen Kauppaymuthoo, it will take " about ten years for the marine ecosystem to resemble what it was before the accident.