The government of Trinidad and Tobago has hired overseas help in the ongoing clean-up along its shoreline following a laden barge sinking two weeks ago.
Two American firms, T&T Salvage and QT Environmental, have been drafted in.
Divers are expected to find and plug leaks on the overturned barge while crews deploy an underwater oil-detection system. The government has also hired a remote-operated vehicle to help with the ongoing work.
A preliminary investigation has found that the capsized barge had departed from Panama and was being tugged to nearby Guyana when it began to sink off Tobago’s coast. TankerTrackers.com has satellite images showing the nearly 50-year-old barge was carrying some 35,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil on its final journey.
Authorities are still seeking more details, including the location of the tugboat and its owner.
On the morning of February 7, local authorities detected an oil slick spewing from a capsized vessel off the west coast of Tobago. The slick quickly hit the southwest shoreline of the Caribbean island with a national emergency declared and thousands of volunteers helping in the subsequent clean-up.
