Tonight 7News has confirmed that the 85 foot luxury yacht – The Great Escape which has been bobbing on the reef near Hunting Caye since it ran aground on November 30th sunk today and only about 2 to 3 feet of the vessel is visible.
The worrying news tonight is that some reports are that the 800 gallons of fuels and 50 gallons of lube is now slowly leaking into the ocean. A team from the port authority and the department of environment rushed to the scene around midday to assess the situation.
Chief Environmental Officer Martin Allegria told us a short while ago that his team on the ground say that even though the vessel has sunken and it is falling apart, the fuel is in a secured container which is still intact. He says they have made arrangements to safely remove the fuel container tomorrow with facilities from the Big Creek Port.
The vessel’s captain and owner Albert Barscroft ran aground on November 30th. He left the country because he had a heart attack and since then the Department of Environment has been trying to raise the necessary funds to move the vessel.
