Barges managed to pump 3,000 tons of oil from the ship, but another 1,000 tons leaked into the ocean, endangering coral reefs and pristine azure lagoons.
An initial investigation found that crew members searching for better cell phone signals may have steered the ship two miles closer to shore than planned, according to the Associated Press.
The aircraft-carrier-sized ship split in two, and its front half soon drifted away into open waters.
Mauritius is a tourism hotspot, so the oil spill added insult to the injury of the coronavirus pandemic. Japan, which owns and operated the ship, offered to resolve the issue with a $300 million loan rather than a more thorough investigation, Forbes reported.