Photo courtesy of the Japan Mine Action Service. Retrieved from mbjguam.com
Experts in Chuuk are warning that the state — and a vast swathe of the central Pacific — are at growing risk of an environmental catastrophe should the oil tanks rupture in one or more of the Japanese transport vessels that still litter the floor of the lagoon.
Eighty years after the surrender of Imperial Japanese forces on what was Tokyo’s most important naval base in the region during World War II, there have already been a series of small-scale leaks of fuel oil from the ships, which are corroding at a more rapid pace as nature takes its toll on their steel hulls.
Given the inevitability of the sunken ships breaking apart, experts are warning that steps need to be taken immediately to avoid the worst-case scenario of an estimated 30 million gallons of heavy fuel oil and diesel being spilled into the largely pristine waters of the lagoon.