The Belize Ports Authority said absolutely nothing, but 7NEWS has learnt that nearly two weeks ago a luxury yacht's anchor irreversibly damaged, at least in our lifetime, what has been described as a "large part" of the reef off of San Pedro.
According to the San Pedro Sun, on March 29th the three-story, 145-foot "Summerwind" dropped a massive anchor and its 200 feet long chain
down 75 feet. It is believed that the chain broke a part of the coral. The damage didn't end there because as the chain swung it continued to break off even more of hard and soft coral and sponges.
The yacht was captained by 39-year-old Hussain Adam who is a Maldives national. Information is that the boat entered Belize on March 16th. The kicker is that the Ports Authority and the Yacht's agent Eurocaribe Shipping warned against the boat entering the San Pedro area.
Apparently the Ports Authority was powerless because despite their warning the yacht freely sailed into San Pedro. On the morning of March 29th it ventured near the reef, a portion of which it later destroyed. The yacht's owner said they moved for safety reasons. And nearly two weeks later reports are that after the Port Authority ordered that it stay in the San Pedro Area, it yacht sailed away and according to a spokesman for the yacht it should already be in Honduras.
Environmentalists working with the government have committed that the government will sue the Summerwind and its owner. Little consolation though since there is no dollar value on the damage which experts say will take 100 years to repair itself.
