The Department of Environment on Friday was assessing the impact of the Cayman Aggressor IV’s grounding on a reef in the North Sound the day before.
Research teams were dispatched to conduct a comprehensive impact survey in the area where the 108-foot liveaboard boat ran aground in the early hours of Thursday.
“We are doing an assessment of the reef to determine any potential environmental damage which may have occurred from the grounding,” a DoE spokesperson said Friday.
An investigation has been launched into how the incident happened.
Passengers aboard the boat were jolted awake around 2:30am when the boat made contact with the reef west of Stingray City Channel into the North Sound.
The boat, later on Thursday afternoon, travelled to George Town Barcadere after clearing the reef when the tide rose. The Aggressor takes people on multi-day diving trips around all three Cayman Islands.
The Cayman Compass understands that the vessel is set to undergo assessment for hull damage in the aftermath of the grounding.
Passenger Josette Clifton told the Compass Friday that she and her husband Phillip, both 76, of Savannah, Georgia, were informed that they will not be able to complete their trip.
“We have word that we will be talking to someone about some compensation. There was another charter cancelled this coming Saturday also,” she said.
They were advised that the vessel needs to be thoroughly inspected before it can be used for another charter, she added.
Clifton, reflecting on being evacuated from the vessel after the grounding, said she and her husband were “not really scared, but just concerned as to what was going to happen”.
“We had four days of great Scuba diving, but what has happened has put a damper on our trip. The cost of this trip is not cheap, so we didn’t get all we paid for. People were asking us if we would ever go on an Aggressor again. No hesitation there, of course we will,” she said.
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