Almost four months after the Gulfstream barge overturned and crashed just off the coast of Cove, Tobago spewing oil, all the oil has been contained and attempts to remove the vessel are set to begin.
The vessel had drifted undetected into Tobago waters and its wreckage was spotted on February 7, 2024.
“In the coming weeks, the next phase of the operation will focus on refloating and towing the barge to Trinidad to a designated facility. This will involve ‘blowing’ down the ballast tanks with air to refloat the wreck, allowing it to be towed via tugboats,” the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries said in a statement.
The Ministry confirmed that the De-Inventory Phase of operations has been completed as of June 28, 2024.
According to the Ministry, all safely recoverable hydrocarbons from the wreck, totalling 32,303 barrels, have been successfully pumped off the capsized barge.
“This phase involved transferring the hydrocarbons from the wreck to a temporary storage facility at Cove. The hydrocarbons were then loaded onto Road-Tank-Wagons and transported to the Port of Scarborough, where they were pumped onto the tanker MV SCOT Munchen,” the Ministry explained.
“The tanker arrived on April 20 and began loading operations. After reaching capacity, it set sail for Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited (Paria) on May 6 to offload the hydrocarbons. In this initial transfer, approximately 20,500 barrels were offloaded. The tanker then returned to Tobago to continue loading operations,” it said.
The Ministry’s statement added: “Despite adverse weather and sea conditions hampering further operations, an additional 11,803 barrels were eventually pumped off the barge and loaded onto the tanker. The tanker completed its final loading operation and set sail for Paria on June 27.”