(Trinidad Express) A major disaster continued to impact Tobago on Friday as an overturned oil products tanker called Gulfstream kept spewing black oily deposits into the ocean, eventually reaching from Scarborough to Lowlands.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine says a decision would be made as to whether Tobago will move to Tier Three status where the help of international partners will be necessary.
The oil spill has spread and caused extensive damage to the coastline around the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort and the Boardwalk at Tobago Plantations.
It caused the cancellation of Kiddies Carnival, scheduled for yesterday in Scarborough, and early estimates are suggesting the spill has caused millions of dollars in damage to the island’s environment.
Two Government ministers on Friday visited the island to offer help and resources.
Oil is still flowing from the Gulfstream vessel into Tobago’s waters. This was confirmed during a media conference in Scarborough as the authorities have not been able to cap the source of the flow.
Augustine said Tobago was never ready to treat with this level of devastation.
“Tobago was never ever ready for this kind of a spill; you’re talking about an island that does not have sufficient amount of booms, an island that doesn’t have storage, adequate storage capacity for this kind of oil or for toxic material. We never prepared for this as an eventuality,” he said.
But what is more concerning is the fact that oil is still oozing from the vessel. This was confirmed by expert diver and head of the Tobago Marine Safety and Security Services Ltd Alvin Douglas.
“We got a call from a couple of professionals who are going to speedily come to the island and assist us in trying to plug that leak; we also mentioned that we want to put one of these booms, the boom to redirect the flow of that crude oil, and try to see if we can capture it before it gets more into the sensitive areas,” Douglas said.
Augustine said underwater vehicles will be used today to assist.
“Additionally, we are going to be using some unmanned vehicles underwater; those operators will be on island. These vehicles will allow us to safely send cameras down into the vessel and to the area where the IMO number should be where we can’t safely send divers at this time,” Augustine said.
Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) director Allan Stewart described the situation as a logistical nightmare. He said the United Nations has given its commitment to assist.
“You have to talk about building capacity on the island as we see this thing is even moving towards what can be considered a Tier Three. Tier Three means that there is international involvement. Those persons have already started speaking to us; the United Nations reached out to me sometime just after lunch and they are asking how can (they) help,” Stewart said.
Additionally, Augustine said from the satellite imagery, the leak was observed moving from East Tobago to west.
“One of the things that we are now factoring in, based on the satellite imagery, is that this vessel might have been leaking coming from the east heading westward, and based on satellite imagery, we are seeing the trail of leakage all the way to the resting point and then we see the bulk of the leak where it rested. So that meant that this was overturned for a while, it was drifting for a while,” he said.
Oil booms have been set up to prevent the interisland ferries being affected by the oil spill while a cruise ship with approximately 3,000 passengers is set to dock tomorrow in Scarborough.
“I spoke with Mr Carvalho, who is the agent for the cruise ship, and he has indicated…that the cruise ship will be docking on Sunday, that’s a large vessel carrying over 3,000 passengers, notwithstanding, he has made it clear that the cruise liner will be informing its passengers that the tours will not be affected, the packages they purchased will not be affected.
“The only effect will be the fact that they will be docked alongside a massive oil spill clean-up effort, and that will be made clear to the passengers even as they dock in Scarborough on Sunday. If that changes, there’ll be a subsequent release to let you know that that reality has changed.”
He said research indicated the Gulfstream vessel was built in 1975.
There was also another vessel incident, this time at Studley Park, where rough waters proved a challenge for a barge loaded with sand which was trying to dock.
The barge was observed drifting near Mt St George on Thursday night.
