It's now been 5 days since the cargo ship "Transfer" ran aground on the barrier reef shoals off Lighthouse Reef. Now authorities are in the process of determining the damage that the boat sustained and whether it can be removed from its location. We today spoke to Operations Manager at the Belize Ports Authority Major Gilbert Swazo who says that the matter is requiring a multi-organizational response to minimize damage to both the reef as well as the boat itself.
Major Gilbert Swazo,
"A team consisting of Customs, Belize Defense Force, Immigration, Police, and Port Authority personnel have been deployed into the area. Also, a marine architect along with a marine surveyor have been deployed into the area. And the marine architect will ensure the structural integrity of the vessel, do an assessment and that will be able to tell us what plan of action will take place to dislodge the vessel off the reef. The architect certainly will give us a timeline by which we will dislodge the vessel off the reef. One of the things we are looking at is to ensure that the structural integrity is not compromised and even if it is then the crew are directed to remain onboard with a view to ensure they can contain that spill, if it should occur."
"Coastal Zone's concern is three-fold. One it is the biodiversity integrity of the reef. Two the possible impact of any pollution that may occur during the dislodgement or right now as it stands. Three the wildlife of the reef, not too far away is one of the spawning aggregating sites for the Nassau Grouper and hence we are very vigilant."
Vasquez says that both the Fisheries Department and the Department of the Environment have been unable to ascertain the extent of damage that the reef sustained because weather conditions have not allowed divers to make a proper examination. Meanwhile the 11 crew members of the 34 year old "Transfer" remain on board to monitor the boat. We are told that for damages of this nature, fines ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 can be imposed on shipping agents responsible for the vessel.
