Onboard Birthday Party and Communications Signal Search Led to Mauritius Ship Accident

Captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the captain of the ship that ran aground in July 2019, has told an inquiry that he steered the vessel close to the island of Mauritius to search for an internet connection.

The decision led to the ship breaking in half and tons of fuel being spilled, causing an ecological emergency off the coast of the east African island nation. The BBC reports that the MV Wakashio was carrying 4 000 tons of fuel when it hit a coral reef.

Captain Nandeshwar said, “There was no internet on the ship, and I agreed to dock in Mauritius so that the crew members could communicate with their relatives.” He said that that helped keep the morale of the crew high.

The Captain and his assistant were subsequently arrested. Both the Mauritius government and the ship’s crew have blamed the captain for the accident before an Inquiry. Some have testified to a birthday celebration having been held onboard the ship, with Captain Nandeshwar having allowed the crew to drink despite an alcohol and drugs prohibition onboard.

Umm Muhammed Umar

The Africa Report

26 August 2025 | 10:10 CAT 2-minute read SA’s Media: A Beacon of Press Freedom Amid Global Repression In an interview on Radio Islam International’s Africa Report, Martin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies and...

Alarming Surge in Violence in SA Schools

26 August 2025 | 09:55 CAT 3-minute read Violence in South African schools is intensifying with worrying frequency, escalating from bullying to murders, assaults, and even weapon-related attacks on both pupils and educators. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) are...

From Tembisa Hospital to the Shadow State: The Truth Behind Babita Deokaran’s Assassination

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 4-minute read | 25 August 2025 | 14:10 CAT Urgent calls for justice continue to echo four years after the assassination of Gauteng health official and whistleblower, Babita Deokaran, whose bravery in exposing large-scale...

Palestine Report

A Gaza in Flames, a World in Solidarity 25 August 2025 | 11:14 CAT 2-minute read As Israel moves forward with its plan to seize Gaza City and force its population south, the IOF have escalated attacks on the enclave’s biggest city. Reports from the ground carry the...

The Debrief Report

25 August 2025 | 10:20 CAT 2-minute read SA’s global standing undermined from within South Africa is facing what former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas has described as the most orchestrated effort to undermine its credibility since the dawn of democracy. From...

Sol Green Fingers: Planting Seeds Of Change

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 21 August 2025 2-minute read Growing up in the dusty villages of Limpopo, Solomon Kgolani was exposed to gardening from a very young age by his parents. He went on to study Agricultural and Environmental Studies and became a...