Problem in Paradise??

Motorcycler · #1 01-27-2007, 07:46 AM

Anyone know what is going on with this ship that has run aground off the shore of Isla Beata??? Does anyone know if any environmental cleanup efforts are in force. Last I heard a couple of days ago is that the ship has developed large bulkhead cracks and there are several thousand gallons of fuel/oil on board. It has been there for quite a while and nothing has been done. Should it breakup I'm sure that an enviromental disaster would be for sure.

Lambada · #2 01-28-2007, 11:27 AM

It has apparently been there for 2 years!! I have no personal knowledge but this was in today's El Nacional:
El Nacional, la voz de todos

Motorcycler · #3 01-28-2007, 06:25 PM

I read the report and thanks Lambada. It is just incredible that no one has acted on this potential disaster waiting to happen. In the photo above you can see that it is hard aground, that it has moved since its original position and has torn up the reef below or a grass bed on the sand. That brown stuff off the bow and floating on the beach is not chocolate syrup!!

I read a local report by some fishermen that the only thing that remains is the hull and the oil since it has been scanvenged thoroughly. After two years the oil is by now thick sludge that will float on the sea. Wow!!

Mirador · #4 01-28-2007, 07:37 PM

The ship was scuttled intentionally on the shores of Beata island. Its original name is not the one painted on the hull (“Konstantinos…”). It was a dilapidated bulkcarrier, not worth salvaging, with some gooky residue from a previous cargo still in its hold. Upon scuttling, the crew was picked up at the pier in Cabo Rojo. And as always, all relevant DR authorities were given ‘donuts’ and ‘pies’ to keep their jaws busy, and shut up...

Lambada · #5 01-30-2007, 05:14 PM

Minister of Environment says it isn't an environmental risk. Now appears to have been there 6 years???
Diario Libre Online

Motorcycler · #6 01-30-2007, 10:14 PM

I read it and it does not make much sense. Looks like someone is trying to sweep it under the carpet. Saw another artcle on this that they published in January 25, 2007. It has a little more history plus what more or less ocurred.
Diario Libre Jan 25 story

Lambada · #7 01-31-2007, 12:13 AM

Max Puig was on CDN 7 pm News tonight saying they were attempting to trace the owners to make them pay for removal. How difficult can it be to trace ship owners?

Mirador · #8 01-31-2007, 07:30 AM

My informant told me that the old ship was grounded intentionally in February 2003, and simulated to be an accident in order to collect on the insurance policy, something that would have been impossible if the ship had been sunk in mid ocean. She also mentioned that the use of Beata island as a ship graveyard cannot be done without the connivance of local authorities.

Motorcycler · #9 01-31-2007, 04:47 PM

I'm sure that your informant is correct Mirador specially since there is a Dominican Navy post on Beata. The reports indicate that the sailors were taken to Cabo Rojo and never held in custody and they just boarded another ship that took them out of the country.

laurapasinifan · #10 02-05-2007, 09:21 AM

I think this recent article is about that grounded tanker:

http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=22004

bob