Cargo Ship Lodged in Belize's Reef

A cargo vessel has run aground on Lighthouse Reef in Belize's southern waters. According to the Belize Ports Authority, the 225-foot vessel, "Transfer" is atop the reef, 4.2 nautical miles south of Sandbore Caye. The vessel was leaving the Big Creek Port en route to Alabama on the U.S. gulf coast with a cargo including shrimp feed, culverts and hardware for shrimp farms. But sometime around 11:30, the "Transfer's" autopilot stopped working and before the captain could make corrective measures, it ran aground on the reef. Today a team of seven people consisting of members from Belize Ports Authority, Coastal Zone Management, Department of Environment, Esso Standard Oil, the Audubon Society and a surveyor has since been deployed to ascertain the cause of the grounding and damages to the environment and the vessel.