In Trinidad and Tobago, a mysterious shipwreck and oil spill are still uncontained – Liberation

The coast was polluted and a state of emergency was declared. The oil spill affecting Trinidad and Tobago after the sinking of an unidentified ship has not spread. “Not under control”, And this is when the Caribbean archipelago is experiencing the first hours of its tourist season associated with Carnival. Hence, an environmental and economic disaster. Only when the situation is under control can cleanup and rehabilitation begin. For the moment, it is not, Prime Minister Keith Rowley made the announcement during a press briefing on Sunday, February 11.

Divers continue to try to plug the leaking vessel, a 100-meter-long, still-unidentified unflagged boat. Gulfstream. No emergency call was sent by the crew on the day of the sinking. According to the Tobago Disaster Management Agency, there were no signs of life… Initially, it was believed to be transporting sand and timber. The overturned boat was swept ashore by the current at the Cove Eco-Industrial Park in South Tobago.

“Only the keel is visible”

Since Thursday, hundreds of volunteers have been working to try to contain the progress of the thick oil slick, but it’s not enough. About 15 km of coastline is affected on Tobago, one of the two islands of this Caribbean oil country of 1.4 million inhabitants near Venezuela. In addition to affecting local ecosystems, oil spills also threaten important tourism revenues. Trinidad and Tobago is gearing up to welcome thousands of tourists for the Carnival season. However, many tourist complexes and hotels in Tobago, such as the Magdalena Grand, are affected.

The government therefore appealed to more people to join the volunteers. Authorities also asked tourists not to travel to contaminated areas. About 15 kilometers of barriers were set up to allow boats to enter the port of Scarborough, Tobago’s capital.

“We were unable to identify the vessel by name (…) or its registration number,” Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine told reporters. “We don’t know who this boat belongs to. We don’t know where it came from, and we don’t know what it contains, Keith Rowley asserted that the boat could be used for smuggling. We don’t know if it’s a cargo ship, an oil tanker or a barge because only the hull is visible and the physical elements that allow it to be identified are underwater, inaccessible for the moment.