Caribbean Oil Spill

• Updates 12

Updates :-

• Pablo Manente
  Vessel was on route to Guyana
• Pablo Manente
  Oil spill spreads to Grenada waters
• Belinda Garcia
  Tons of oil are contaminating popular tourist beaches. Some of which have now been closed. This is a busy season just after the carnival on Trinidad.
• Jane Duncan
  Wildlife will suffer. Coated in oil, animals are poisoned or drown. It can take many years for the environment to recover.
• Belinda Garcia
  Fishing is a significant part of the island economy and has been hit hard in the affected area. Many fishermen have been forced to go to other ports. They may not be able to return to their traditional areas for years.
• Belinda Garcia
  Over a week later and oil is still flowing out of the barge! Over a week later and there is still doubt over where the barge came from, where it was going and what type of oil it was carrying. Even the quantity of oil is unknown, with some reports suggest nearly 1.5 million gallons were onboard when the barge ran aground.
• Jane Duncan
  2 weeks have passed since the initial devastating spill and it is still not clear how much oil remains in the barge.
• Aba Selassie
  A month later and the spill has finally stopped. There is oil still in the barge, trapped in the hull, above the leak point... for now. The owner of the barge or the tug that was towing it are still unknown to authorities. Very strange that a cargo of this nature would be shipped so close to the coast of an island and then when the barge ran in to trouble, the towing vessel left the scene without a trace!
• Aba Selassie
  2 Months later on the island of Tobago and the spill has all but been cleaned up. Specialized teams and local islanders, including church organized groups worked on the clean up. Animals and plants have been affected, including mangroves but there is hope that in a short time, things will return to normal. Other areas and islands may still be contaminated. The spill reached as far as Bonaire in the Leeward Antilles.
• Belinda Garcia
  The barge is still there and there may still be considerable quantities of oil remaining in the capsized vessel. Removal will require expert knowledge and equipment to prevent any further potential spills. At considerable cost.
• Aba Selassie
  According to bellingcat, the barge is called Gulfstream and the tug that was pulling her is named Solo Creed. Shortly before the barge capsize incident, the Solo Creed turned off it's tracking transponder and effectively disappeared. It has since turned up on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean near Luanda, Angola, after entering restricted waters without proper licence.
• Aba Selassie
  The total cost of the oil spill is estimated to be in excess of 20 Million USD!

More on this story at >> Bellingcat

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