Leaking cargo cleared to dock at Port

There was a lot of activity at the Port this morning when word reached land that a container on a cargo ship headed for Belize was leaking hazardous material. This morning the crew aboard the Westerhaven informed their agent in Belize that a barrel in a container consigned to Belize Natural Energy had somehow sprung a leak on its way from Houston. Ports of Belize was immediately notified of the situation and after verifying the chemicals, determined that there was no risk if the ship docked in Belize. To be on the safe side, the police, fire service and Department of the Environment were also informed of the situation and were on hand when Westerhaven docked. Ports personnel went onboard in full safety gear to assess the situation and found one of sixty barrels with the leak. But by then the crew had diffused whatever danger could have resulted, and after determining that the leaking drum posed no threat to the community at large, B.N.E. was allowed to remove it from the port.