Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill says that representatives from MARAD will visit Trinidad to discuss the recent oil spill off the coast of Tobago but he denied that the barge that overturned and leaked was from Guyana.
The Minister told Stabroek News yesterday that the barge which is being referred to as the Gulfstream or Coolie Boy doesn’t belong to Guyana as was reported in the Trinidad Express.
“As it relates to the barge that overturned in Tobago I can say it doesn’t belong to Guyana”, the Public Works Minister stated.
Edghill who has oversight of the local maritime administration said that both the Guyanese and Trinidad maritime authorities will discuss the situation at hand as it relates to the possible mitigating factors.
“As far I am aware the local maritime authority is keeping in touch with our counterpart in Trinidad and is lending its support and from my understanding the Director of Search and Rescue and Disaster Preparedness from MARAD will be preparing to visit Trinidad to engage our sister CARICOM state on the matter”, the minister related.
He added, “The Civil Defence Commission is also part of these discussions, and we are doing the best we can to lend support to our CARICOM counterpart Trinidad and Tobago”.
Director of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Stephen Thomas when contacted yesterday also confirmed that the barge is “not” registered here.
“Based on our records, that boat Gulfstream or Coolie Boy doesn’t belong to Guyana, which therefore means it is not registered here”, Thomas said.
The Trinidad Express yesterday reported that maritime attorney Nyree Alfonso says she has uncovered new information about the spill which has contaminated parts of the Tobago coastline.
Alfonso noted that there have been several reports about the overturned vessel named Gulfstream but this is possibly the old name of the barge, according to the Trinidad Express.
“Our information is that there is no Gulfstream involved in this accident unless it happens to be the earlier name of the current barge. The barge that is turned upside down (in Tobago’s waters), her name is Coolie Boy and we believe her to be owned by a Guyanese entity. The fuel was destined for Guyana,” she told the newspaper via telephone.
“Our information is that the consignee is a Guyanese entity. The Solo Creed came through the Panama Canal empty, meaning not without a tow and went somewhere by Aruba and collected Coolie Boy and was passing through Trinidad and Tobago on its way to Guyana,” she said.
She said investigations will determine whether something transpired with the barge itself and whether it sprang a leak or whether the Solo Creed tug negligently manoeuvred it and the barge hit something, causing it to run into trouble.
Alfonso said she believed that after the barge started leaking the Solo Creed “cut her lines and buss it and gone”.
She said the Solo Creed was flagged in Tanzania and more than likely went through the Panama Canal where it would have submitted all its documents to officials there.
She said an alert should have been issued to the Panama Canal in the search for the Solo Creed.
Alfonso explained that there is a difference between a barge and a tug—as most “dumb barges” can “hide” since they do not have an Automatic Identification System (AIS) or GPS tracking.
She said when a vessel is trying to hide, they turn off the AIS tracking which is satellite-based but sooner or later it has to be turned back on.
“There are countries that do not allow you to come in their waters with (your) AIS off,” she said.
Alfonso said she did her research on the incident because members of the media had been reaching out to her for her expert opinion.
“I was able to find out that Mr Solo Creed coming through the Panama Canal picked up a barge called the Coolie Boy and he headed to Guyana,” she said.
Alfonso told the Trinidadian publication that the tugboat must be held liable.
“In the ordinary course of things when there is an accident with a tug and a barge, the tug is held responsible because it is manoeuvring the barge which cannot manoeuvre on its own. Maritime law holds the manoeuvring vessel liable,” she said.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Maritime Services Division, she said, should be reaching out to its counterparts and issuing alerts for the Solo Creed.
“They need to track down the Solo Creed and find out who her owners are. Our Maritime Division can call up the maritime authorities in Tanzania and get the details,” she said.
She said there are also enhanced marine traffic websites that can track all these details.
Alfonso said vessels have something called “PNI Insurance” which is third party liability.
“You should be getting on to the PNI Club and ask them how they paying for the clean-up here,” she said.
Alfonso said a “poor” job is being done to contain the leaking oil.
“Had they put down the commercial grade booms that they should have, in a timely fashion, that oil would have never reached the shorelines of Tobago,” she said.
She added that an environmental services operator was not deployed until days after the spill to utilise booms to contain the leak. This was unacceptable, she said.
Alfonso said containing the spill required a tiered approach and “tier three” status should have been implemented immediately by bringing in the experts to plug the leak.
“I think that can be plugged but not where she (the barge) is, the water depth is insufficient to send down divers. And we don’t have the equipment to pump that oil from that vessel upside down. So you should have brought in people to plug it and pump out the oil in its upturned position safely,” she said.
According to the Express Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley last week Friday at Parliament delivered a statement where he said there was no “cover-up” of the incident.
Also speaking in the Parliament, Energy Minister Stuart Young said there are over 350 vessels named Gulfstream, which makes it difficult for State agencies to source information.
He said that expert divers were unable to obtain information from the overturned carrier due to the sea current and low visibility.
Young said the Maritime Division, Coast Guard and other intelligence agencies, including Caricom IMPACS are working to trace information on the vessel.
