Marine

12.8, non-removal of wreck

Belize: part containerised general cargo Transfer , which ran aground on top of Belize’s barrier reef 20 months ago, is still sitting on the reef with no indication that it will be removed any time soon. This is because the US$500,000 paid out by a British insurance company to assist in the removal of the abandoned vessel has vanished, and so has the company paid to do the job. Belize’s Department of the Environment, the legal body responsible for wrecks at sea, confirmed that a local company, identified as 3-D Marine of Belize City, was paid $500,000 to remove the wreck early last year. Initial attempts to dislodge the wreck using two small tugs from Guatemala failed to budge the vessel in July last year at a time when Hurricane Emily threatened Belize’s coastline. The vessel has since moved further onto the reef, causing extensive damage to the coral. Since then, 3-D Marine’s only known officer, identified as Eliott Tulloch, is nowhere to be found and the wreck remains on the reef near Lighthouse Reef Atoll, posing a greater danger than ever.