Trinidad and Tobago Government Says the De-Inventory Phase of Oil Spill Operation Has Been Completed
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Trinidad and Tobago government says the de-inventory phase of the operations regarding the oil spill that occurred off the coast of Tobago in February, damaging some of the island’s mangroves and threatened its tourism and fishing sectors, has been completed.
Aerial View of the Capsized Barge and Temporary Storage Facility at Cove (Photo Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries)A statement issued by the Ministry of Energy and Energy industries, said that the exercise was completed last Friday and that “all safely recoverable hydrocarbons from the wreck have been successfully pumped off the capsized barge, amounting to 32,303 barrels”.
It said that the de-Inventory phase involved pumping hydrocarbons from the wreck to a temporary storage facility and that the hydrocarbons were then loaded onto Road-Tank-Wagons and transported to the Port of Scarborough, where they were pumped onto a tanker. The ministry said that the de-Inventory operations began on April 13.
It said that the tanker, MV SCOT Munchen, which arrived on April 20 set sail for the Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited (Paria) on May 6, once its capacity had been reached to offload the hydrocarbons into a tank at Paria’s facility.
“In this first instance, approximately 20,500 barrels were offloaded. The tanker subsequently returned to Tobago to continue loading operations. Adverse weather and sea conditions significantly hampered further de-inventory operations, but through the immense effort of all involved, an additional 11,803 barrels were pumped off the capsized barge and loaded onto the tanker. The tanker completed its last loading operation and set sail for Paria on 27 June 2024,” the statement added.
The ministry said that in the coming weeks, the next phase of the operation will focus on refloating and towing the barge to Trinidad to a designated facility.
“This will involve ‘blowing’ down the ballast tanks with air to refloat the wreck, allowing it to be towed via tugboats,” the statement said, acknowledging the contributions of all stakeholders in the oil spill response, including fisherfolk, energy companies, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency and the Tobago House of Assembly.
“The Ministry continues to maintain open dialogue and communication with all respective agencies as efforts now shift to the re-float process, ensuring the safety of all personnel remains paramount.”
Earlier this month, the government said it was continuing to pursue efforts to identify and detain the vessels involved in the oil spill that was first spotted on February 7.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister Stuart Young, said the the government is pursuing leads tthat one of the boats involved had been arrested in Angola.
He said the “Solo Creed” tug, which had been towing the “Gulfstream” barge, also strongly suspected to be at the center of the oil spill, was classed with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) until December 31, 2018.
Last Monday, as he delivered his budget to the Tobago House of Assembly, Chief Secretary, Farley Augustine accused the government of committing a crime against Tobago, in presenting his THA budget for October 2024-September 2025 on June 24.suggesting the government’s allocation to the THA for the oil-spill clean-up had fallen short by over TT$100 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents).
He said the had requested TT$154 million to cover the costs associated with the clean -up, but had only been allocated TT$50 million,
