This satellite tv for pc picture supplied by Maxar Applied sciences reveals an oil spill attributable to an overturned vessel off the coast of Tobago close to Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (Maxar Applied sciences through AP)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An offshore oil spill that prompted Trinidad and Tobago to declare a national emergency earlier this month has reached the shores of the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire a whole lot of miles away, authorities mentioned. That is the primary signal of how far the leaked oil has traveled.
Authorities officers mentioned the oil poses a “critical menace” to the island and its nature together with its mangroves, fish and corals. The oil washed up in areas alongside Bonaire’s east coast regardless of efforts to comprise it, the federal government assertion mentioned Monday.
Bonaire is greater than 500 miles (830 kilometers) east of Tobago, the place the spill occurred.
Officers have mentioned they don’t how a lot oil has leaked or stays on board.
The oil is leaking from an overturned barge that had departed from Panama and was being tugged to close by Guyana when it started to sink, according to a preliminary investigation. The proprietor of the barge has not been recognized.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Power mentioned Tuesday that crews accomplished an investigative hydrographic survey of the wreck to permit officers to create a map of the seabed and different knowledge across the wreck, which foreign experts are helping to remove.
Crews are working to comprise and acquire the oil, officers mentioned.
Environmental activists have questioned who pays for the cleanup prices and demanded assist for fishermen whose livelihood and tools had been affected.
