Though repairs have been done on the oil tanker Sea Elephant, which ran aground off Cayman Brac earlier this month, the vessel has not been cleared to depart the Cayman Islands just yet.
The ship, which sustained some damage during the grounding incident on 6 July, is in Grand Cayman waters at this time and anchored off the George Town harbour.
Temporary repairs to the damaged hull of the vessel were initially carried out in Cayman Brac and the ship was discharged to sail to Grand Cayman for further assessment and repairs as needed.
A government spokesperson, responding to Cayman Compass queries, said on Wednesday that the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands commenced a follow-up inspection of the vessel.
“[The authority is] awaiting information from the ship’s agents and owners on their plans, including location, for permanent repairs. This information is needed for the Authority to establish if any additional temporary repairs are needed before the vessel can be cleared for departure,” the spokesperson said via email.
The ship is operated by Pantheon Tankers in Athens and was taking diesel fuel to the Brac when the incident occurred.
The ship ran aground on some “high coral heads” on the shallow seabed off the northeastern shore of Cayman Brac.
The authority’s spokesperson said a joint investigation continues into the grounding and said further updates “will be provided as available”.
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