More Calls For Quick Identification of Vessel Responsible For Major Oil Spill in Tobago
SCARBOROUGH, Tobago – The Trinidad-based non-government origination, Friends and Fishermen of the Sea, (FFOS) Tuesday urged the quick identification of the capsized vessel that has caused an oil spill impacting the sister isle of Tobago.
Mystery shipwreck leaking oil into Tobago waters“Today is day seven, and our traumatized islands are left in the dark as the thick crude oil continues to spread into our food chain fishery and onto our Tobago tourism inventory,” the FFOS said in a statement..
“According to the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), booms have been successfully deployed in the vicinity of the leaking Gulfstream vessel, but isn’t more oil still leaking from the vessel?
“It’s critical at this stage that we determine how much more oil will be leaked to determine if the booms will contain it,” FFOS added.
It said that the substance being leaked into the ocean could be crude oil and warned of the devastating impact on the environment and people’s livelihoods.
“The thick oil-like substance observed appears to be an unrefined crude oil, suggesting that the Gulfstream is either a tanker or a floating storage and offloading vessel,” it said, adding that “based on this Gulfstream length, which is estimated to be between 300 to 560 feet, and to be conservative, if it was half-filled, we estimate that it could contain between 150,000 to 350,000 barrels of crude oil.”
Last Sunday, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who led a ministerial delegation that included his Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Stuart Young and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, told a news conference that efforts would continue to determine the owners and name of the vessel at the center of the spill that began on Wednesday last week.
“An unknown vessel has apparently drifted upside down into Tobago’s zone. That vessel, we don’t know who it belongs to, we have no idea where it came from and we also don’t know all that it contains.
“What we do know, it appears to be broken having made contact here and is leaking some kind of hydro carbon that is foiling the water and the coastline,” Rowley told reporters, adding “that vessel could have come to us from any kind of operation, especially if the operation is illicit”.
Rowley said that Trinidad and Tobago has been offered significant help from friendly nations who “have been involved in this and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Security are currently engaged in talking to people with more capacity than Trinidad and Tobago”.
The FFOS said that the name of the vessel and its measurement will help identify its owner.
“Worldwide, there are many Gulfstream-named vessels. Most are of different lengths and uses. If the Trinidad and Tobago investigating team measures the length and width of the vessel, this would be the first step to identifying the model of this vessel and/or confirming whether it’s a freight vessel or a tanker and would narrow down an International Maritime Organisation search of the possible owner/s.
“Secondly, and much easier, since this vessel sails under a St Kitts and Nevis flag of convenience, why haven’t our team already contacted the St Kitts and Nevis authorities to reveal the owner’s names and all details of the capacity and use of this vessel? Certainly, they should have records of what this Gulfstream is equipped to do. Or do they? And if not, why not?”
On Monday, TEMA said the oil slick measures 48 nautical miles in length and 0.13 nautical miles in width.
“The spill extends from the west to the northwest into the Caribbean Sea, with noticeable oil weathering beginning around 9.71 nautical miles from the source,” TEMA said.
