A Japanese safety report into the catastrophic grounding of the bulk carrier Wakashio has revealed that the crew sailed dangerously close to the Mauritius coastline to pick up a phone signal multiple times prior to the incident.
The Japan Transport Safety Bureau (JTSB) report highlighted how the 203,000-dwt Wakashio (built 2007) grounded 1.5 nautical miles (2.7 km) from shore in July 2020 after the master ordered the ship to divert to pick up a phone signal.
