The Department of Environment has confirmed it will be consulting with the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding potential charges in the wake of the Cayman Aggressor IV’s grounding on a reef in the North Sound last month.
The DoE, in response to Cayman Compass queries, said that its Marine Research Unit has surveyed the damage caused by the ship after it became lodged in the reef on 21 Sept., prompting the evacuation of passengers.
Th vessel was able to be freed from the reef when the tide rose. However, the incident triggered a DoE investigation.
“DoE will be consulting with Crown Counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding potential charges. The DPP are responsible for determining if prosecution will proceed, and should prosecution proceed, charges are determined by the Court,” a DoE statement to the Compass said.
It said that the research unit has “salvaged and reattached as much live coral to the reef as possible” in the aftermath of the incident, which happened in the early hours of 21 Sept.
The 108-foot-long boat was grounded on a reef west of Stingray City Channel into North Sound, prompting a response from the Navigator tugboat, the Cayman Islands Coast Guard and the DoE.
Passengers on the liveaboard boat shared their experience with the Compass when they were told they had to abandon ship.
The grounding happened around 2:30am, jarring passengers awake. The boat then started to lean to one side when it ran aground and after a brief period of confusion an evacuation order came through from the captain.
The DoE, in a message to boat operators in the aftermath of the grounding, reminded “our islands are surrounded by a relatively shallow reef of coral which is a protected species and should always be approached with caution”.
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