Authorities seeking to identify vessel leaking oil in waters off Tobago

SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, CMC –The Trinidad and Tobago government Sunday said it is not ruling out seeking overseas assistance in dealing with an oil spill that has impacted Tobago.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, who led a ministerial delegation that included his Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Stuart Young and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, told a news conference that efforts are under way to determine the owners and name of the vessel at the centre of the spill that began on Wednesday last week.

“An unknown vessel has apparently drifted upside down into Tobago's zone. That vessel, we don't know who it belongs to, we have no idea where it came from and we also don't know all that it contains.

“What we do know, it appears to be broken having made contact here and is leaking some kind of hydrocarbon that is soiling the water and the coastline,” Rowley told reporters, adding “that vessel could have come to us from any kind of operation, especially if the operation is illicit”.

Rowley told reporters that at the national level “we may require help, because once we start talking about salvaging, which is to get the vessel into a place where we can control what's going on, we may have to have outside help.

“I can tell you Trinidad and Tobago as a country, we have been offered significant help from friendly nations who have been involved in this and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Security are currently engaged in talking to people with more capacity than Trinidad and Tobago”.

He said that the authorities are working alongside a number of foreign and local energy companies, adding “we can't undo what is done, we can't pretend the vessel did not come here”.

Rowley said because of the situation, the authorities have not yet been able to determine “the physical nature of the vessel.

“So we are not sure if it is a freighter, a tanker or a barge, because only the keel of the vessel is visible and its identifying physical characteristics are in water that we can't penetrate for the moment. We are doing all that is possible to answer these questions.”

Rowley told reporters that from a mobilisation point of view, “anything that needs to be done has been to this point done, is being done and will be done, to ameliorate, to minimise and eventually eliminate the threat that the vessel poses to us.

“We are waiting for the results of the tests to determine what the content of the cargo is and I assume some time in the not too distant future we will determine what other cargo and quantum on board because we have not been able to determine if is bunker fuel, fuel for the vessel or raw crude," Rowley said.

More than 1,000 volunteers are involved in the cleanup of the spill as the authorities try to isolate the leak from the vessel which has been abandoned by its crew.

Chief Secretary of the Tobago house of Assembly,Farley Augustine, told the news conference that Tobago did not have the equipment to deal with the situation, but has since been able to deploy booms preventing the oil from spreading into other areas.

He said the task is also to identify the vessel, adding “we still have not been able to identify the vessel by name. There may be some characteristics and not withstanding using ROV's (remote operated vehicles) we have not been successful in identifying an IMO (International Maritime Organization) number.

“And so the next task is to use infrared to more or less identify the structure of the vessel and to see what is contained therein,” Augustine said, adding that the “toxic” materials picked up on the beaches are being properly disposed of.

He said not many of the wildlife have been affected by the oil spill and that those engaged in the clean up exercise “are actively looking for impact on wild life".

Rowley said it is clear that “not an insignificant costs are incurred just to respond to this incident we did not plan for and that we did not expect, but it has happened."

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