Volunteers And First Responders Unite To Clean Oil Spill In Trinidad and Tobago

On Tuesday, first responders and volunteers from Tobago and Trinidad sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the country waters of the Caribbean and clean locations on Tobago island’s coast impacted by the incident. The Trinidad and Tobago coast guard first spotted the spill on February 7, almost 6 km off the coast of Studley Park. Farley Augustine, the chief secretary of Tobago’s national assembly, mentioned it during a press meeting held on Sunday.

Barriers were installed to contain the spill earlier this week, which had spread in a 12-km line and safeguarded the Scarborough port, based in Tobago and used by cruise vessels, particularly during the high season, such as the current Carnival. First responders have focused on containing this spill as the tides change, safeguarding the surrounding areas, cleaning up the beaches, deploying expert divers, isolating toxic materials, and assessing the impact on the wildlife, per relevant officials and media reports.

This situation is a national emergency in Trinidad and Tobago, PM Keith Rowley announced on Sunday, telling how a vessel had submerged and established contact with a reef on the coastline, resulting in the spill. Officials said that they also identified the vessel as the “the Gulfstream” – citing experienced divers, who spotted the title on the side of the craft that resulted in the spill, without further elaborating.

The government mentioned that it will continue researching the vessel’s owner and the operator and whether the leak came from the bunker deposit. Reuters has found at least three vessels with similar names, and their transponders were also offline, and LSEG vessel monitoring data was reflected. Rowley explained that it could have been worse if the collision had occurred further east and hit Scarborough Port. If the spill happened further toward the west, a significant amount of the oil could have gone to a chief marine park.

An initial examination spotted only a limited effect on animals in the zone. Stuart Young, the Energy minister, mentioned that some energy firms operating in the nation, including British BP BP.L, have offered equipment like remotely operated vehicles to facilitate the investigation and cleanup.

Reference: Reuters

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