Tobago Correspondent
The sunken Gulfstream barge vessel has been floated and removed from the wreckage site just off the Cove in Tobago. The vessel overturned and crashed into a coral reef on February 7, spewing volumes of bunker fuel and devastating 15 kilometres of coastline.
Just after 9 am yesterday, Guardian Media spotted the vessel being moved along the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort shoreline, seemingly heading east and moving away from shore.
Tobago Emergency Management Agency Director Allan Stewart confirmed the process to tow the vessel to Trinidad has begun.
“The preparatory works are taking place. We have confirmed they are doing the necessaries to remove the vessel. They are making every effort to move it in the shortest space of time. Anytime soon, based on their (Energy Ministry) projection, we will see movement taking place,” he explained.
The work towards moving the vessel is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, in partnership with international salvaging company T&T Salvage. Stewart said while work had started, TEMA’s data showed the vessel was still in Tobago waters.
Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young could not be reached for comment. But in June, Young gave a commitment to have the vessel removed by the end of July.
Meanwhile, Government is still working to locate the owner.
But as the salvaging of the Gulfstream barge wreckage is happening, one local diver lamented that one of Tobago’s healthiest coral reefs, which cushioned the crash, will not heal.
At the wreckage site, a large debris field is all that remains.
During the crash, the vessel’s upper structure was ripped off from the hull. This part dragged through the coral as the vessel made its way closer to the shoreline.
Alvin Douglas, a specialist diver and marine enthusiast, said the island’s marine life and scuba diving tourism product would be negatively affected.
“The first impact of this spill was the scarring of the reef. It was tremendous. It slid over the coral reef and destroyed everything it passed by.
“The focus is the cleanup on land and the recovery on land, but there is some damage that has been done to the marine environment as well,” he said.
Douglas said the area was a popular diving spot and divers from around the world will surely miss it.
“It will heal, but we must appreciate and understand that a coral reef system takes hundreds, if not thousands, of years to grow and develop. So, it’s going to be a long time, and that area for us is permanently scarred. Nature has a way of mending itself, but it’s not a fix any of us will see in our lifetime,” he added.
Douglas suggested that the wrecked barge be submerged near the damaged area. This, he said, will act as a nursing ground for fish until the underwater ecosystem recovers.
“What I would like to lobby for is to have that wreckage turned into a dive wreck to be submerged very close and turned into a wreck. I’m hoping the THA would consider it,” he said.
“People are seeing the wreck, but beyond the wreck, there are parts that were broken off from the vessel.”
Douglas said when the incident first happened, divers noticed that the vessel bobbed up and down, slamming into what was left of the reef. He said Cove’s reef was also once a nursing ground and popular site for leatherback turtles.
“During this ordeal, we saw lots of turtles coming up in the oil trying to breathe and weren’t able to breathe,” he recalled.