Department of Environment personnel are still assessing the damage to the shallow sea bed off the north eastern shore of Cayman Brac caused by the Sea Elephant oil tanker when it ran aground over the weekend.
A government statement, in response to Cayman Compass queries, confirmed on Tuesday night that the DoE Marine Resources Team were still on site in the Brac carrying out “a detailed assessment of the damage to marine resources”.
The grounding incident happened on Saturday afternoon.
It was reported that the vessel was delivering diesel fuel to the Brac when it ran aground on a some “high coral heads” on the shallow seabed.
The government confirmed there had been no fuel leakage from the double-hull tanker.
Fuel and utilities regulator OfReg, in a statement Monday, reaffirmed this, saying that while the vessel was delivering diesel to Cayman Brac at the time of the accident, “OfReg can assure the public that there has been no leakage of fuel”.
“The situation continues to be monitored closely as a precautionary measure. OfReg will provide updates as they become available and will work diligently with all relevant authorities to ensure the highest standards of environmental and operational safety are maintained,” the regulator said.
The Compass understands that the ship received damage to its first hull.
A government statement, in response to Compass queries, said a marine surveyor from the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands completed his inspection of the ship on Sunday.
“[He has] advised that temporary repairs to the hull of the vessel need to be made before the vessel can leave for Grand Cayman to continue discharging its cargo,” the statement said.
Those repairs were being done on Wednesday.
The statement said that following the offloading of cargo on Grand Cayman, “the vessel will need to be subjected to a proper damage assessment and repaired to a condition which would allow her to be authorised to travel to a facility where further inspections and permanent repairs may be carried out”.
The statement added that Department of Environment and Cayman Islands Coast Guard officers continue to collect “witness statements and interview key personnel to aid and further the investigation”.
The Sea Elephant is a chemical/oil products tanker and sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
Based on shipping data from Vessel Finder, the tanker weighs 29,401 tons and is 600 feet long.
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