Vessel IdentifiedSunken Vessel Identified as Solo Creed BargeVessel Identified

Scarborough, Tobago – February 14, 2024 – The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard today confirmed the involvement of a tug boat and a barge, previously unaccounted for and bound for Guyana, in the ongoing Tobago oil spill. Investigations, conducted in collaboration with local and regional agencies, are now focused on definitively identifying these vessels and their owners.

The Coast Guard is tracking the barge, which was being towed by the tugboat Solo Creed from Panama, using distinctive markings and satellite imagery. Both vessels reportedly lost radar contact and never entered Guyanese waters. While this identification brings some clarity to the source of the spill, it simultaneously raises several new concerns, particularly regarding official notification to the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) leadership. Casualties remain unconfirmed amidst the complex efforts to determine the vessels’ full identities.

Trinidad And Tobago Coast Guard Investigates Tug Boat And Barge Bound For Guyana. Tug Boat Identified As “Solo Creed” Towing A Badge With Fuel From Panama To Guyana

Chief Secretary Farley Augustine expressed significant frustration, stating he was not officially notified of the vessel’s identification. “I found out like everyone else from a press release that I saw on WhatsApp and I saw circulating online and that is how I knew the name of the vessel. Nobody called, nobody WhatsApped me, nobody said anything officially,” he asserted.

Coincidentally, the Chief Secretary noted he received similar information via WhatsApp the night before the official announcement. This prompted him to raise several critical questions regarding the perceived delays and lack of direct communication from the central government:

“You really took that long to come forward and to take ownership of this? This is your vessel and you have not arrived to Tobago as yet?”

Augustine also pressed for specifics on the cargo: “You know what you were carrying and the press release doesn’t indicate clearly what they were carrying and the quantity they were carrying. The WhatsApp message I got last night says that they were carrying 5000 metric tonnes of fuel. Is that true?”

He then questioned the actual name of the barge, which was stuck on the reef outside of Cove: “And is it true that what we see as Gulf Stream is essentially perhaps an older name, the original name, and that this new name was perhaps something called Zoom Zoom or something of that sort?”

Augustine further pointed to concerns that the vessel’s owner might involve a major energy company trying to do business in Trinidad. “The WhatsApp I got last night also said that the owner of this vessel actually is one of those trying to purchase the refinery down in Point Fortin,” he stated.

Chief Secretary Augustine emphatically called for these questions to be answered urgently. While Tobago continues to prioritize its cleanup efforts from what has become a Tier 2 disaster, Augustine stressed the critical issue of compensation: “I want to know how much they will pay for this.” The ongoing investigation into the Solo Creed barge and its contents is paramount for Tobago’s environmental recovery and future accountability.