Another vessel grounds on the reef
A barge ran aground on the reef Thursday night. This is the second vessel this year to have damaged a portion of the reef. The barge, thirty feet by twenty three feet, is lodged near the Blue Reef Resort. Because of the battering waves, the barge has turned on its side and is believed to have pulverized the corals in the area. The three main arms of the government that respond to this type of situation, the Port Authority, the Coast Guard and the Department of Environment, have been dispatched to the scene since this morning and have been assessing the situation. Earlier today with Earl Valerio, the head of the Port Authority on San Pedro, spoke to freelancer Jorge Aldana. According to Valerio the accident occurred eight miles north of San Pedro Town.
Via Phone: Earl Valerio, Witnessed Barge Grounding
“As we speak, we deh pan spot right now. We di try get it off di reef. We’re trying to separate the sections of the barge because it comes in three sections. So there is some of the metal that holds the barge together but I think there is one that they are currently working on under water. So they are cutting it with hack saw. From here it looks like it floated in because it is sitting firmly on the reef and there are some pipes on the top of the barge because it’s upside down right now that actually have dug into the reef itself. It is embedded in there. The barge is thirty by twenty-three approximately; thirty feet long and twenty-three feet wide. It has no marking on it; there are no markings on it. The barges in Belize are marked, they have some markings with numbers and sometimes the name of the mother ship on them but that barge has no markings on it. Like I said, only speculation; we only speculate. It could have maybe broken off of a bigger convoy out there and then floated into Belize. It is highly unlikely that it belongs to a Belizean because where it is lodged right now it floated in from the high seas and then landed directly on the reef.”
On November thirtieth 2009, a luxury yacht ironically carrying the name Great Escape, ran aground inside the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve. The yacht which wasn’t moved broke apart because of the beating it took from large waves. The owner of the yacht, Albert Barcroft, was allowed to leave the country without any charges levied against him because of a heart condition.
