The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Onega Traveller ship leaking oil off the coast of South Abaco is a threat to fishing grounds as clean-up crews do not have all of the equipment necessary to contain it, an Abaco business leader has warned.

Daphne Degregory-Miaoulis, the Abaco Chamber of Commerce's president, told Tribune Business that residents of South Abaco depend on the Hole In The Wall fishing grounds where the Onega Traveller started taking on water and leaking fuel. “The fallout from this could be catastrophic for fishermen. That is a very important fishing ground.”

She added: “Attempts are being made to get a boom that can go around and skirt the area to try to contain the oil that is leaking.”

Clean-up crews have been deployed to Abaco to assist with oil remediation efforts of the Onega Traveller last week and a meeting of the National Oil Spill Contingency Advisory Committee (NOSCAC) was held to discuss the way forward.

Ms Degregory-Miaoulis said: “This is just why we shouldn’t have oil drilling in our waters. If we can’t clean up a small spill like this in a short space of time, what can we do if we were to have a major spill?”

The Onega Traveller oil spill is the second significant fuel spill of 2022 after the Sun Oil fuel spill in Exuma in July, something that was contained in roughly three weeks. But the Onega Traveller may take some more energy by the clean-up crews because the “skirting” used to contain the Sun Oil spill was adequate for what happened in Exuma, but what took place in South Abaco needs more skirting and containment equipment.

“There isn’t enough skirting in the country to contain this spill. I spoke to an official that was over here assessing the spill. We asked the people in Exuma for help and they said their skirting is too small. We then asked the people in Grand Bahama and they didn’t have any. So the only alternative is we have to ask the US for help with skirting,” she said.

An oil spill containment boom is a floating barrier used to contain an oil spill on water. Containment booms usually consist of an above-water floating fence or “freeboard” designed to contain the oil and prevent waves from splashing over the boom, and a weighted skirt or “draft” to reduce the amount of oil lost underneath the boom. Couplings on at least one end are used to connect booms to one another, thereby allowing for unlimited overall boom length so that the spill can be completely contained.

Ms Degregory-Miaoulis said: “It is unfortunate that the spill happened around the holiday season because Junkanoo season is taking over and everybody seems totally engrossed in that. The response time on this should be on all engines forward, making this a priority.”

She added: “The fishermen are very anxious. This is their livelihood. With everyone being caught up in Christmas and New Year’s events, we haven’t had any meetings to discuss the way forward on this other than at the official level. The thing is now who is going to bear the responsibility for this?”