Oil Spill Crisis in Tobago: Cleaning ongoing, oil still trapped in Gulf Stream vessel

Oil spill was cleaned up to the tune of 50,000 barrels in Tobago last week. Tobago’s Chief Secretary, Farley Augustine, stated that more oil was still trapped in the Gulf Stream vessel.

According to the Chief Secretary, there are still over 20,000 barrels of liquid waste within the vessel, and efforts are on to remove it. He stated that they would focus entirely on removing the vessel after it has been securely extracted, as this is a necessary step before proceeding with the salvaging process.

Augustine shared the information with the public that the salvage crew had penetrated 12 chamber levels within the ship, presenting that there might be more fuel than anticipated. He mentioned that they are taking the required safety precautions.

Regarding the entire cost to treat the problem, he stated that the THA is investigating ways to handle some of those payments independently. While waiting for the central government’s allocation, which the prime minister has pledged to handle in the event. The Ministry of Planning and Development further stated that the residents are safe after the officials cleared the 480 acres of freshwater, and coastal fauna.

The ministry outlined that the government has been acting proactively to provide safety to the people and their efforts have shown to be extremely effective.

The Ministry also emphasized the five areas of concentration, which were waste remediation, maritime food security, oiled wildlife response, ecosystem vulnerability, and salvage operations. It has also been mentioned that the ministry started the process of draining the oil safely from the “Gulfstream” vessel.

They also went to the environmentally fragile Petit Trou mangrove swamp and mentioned that talks about putting marine management into place to lessen the impact of any disasters that started. In addition, efforts to save animals that came into contact with the oil have started. And steps like setting up a command centre there have also been taken.

In an effort to support their livelihoods and make fish sampling easier, the fishermen who were temporarily housed at Shaw Park Food Hub have also started their participation in open talks.