Eyes on tilting oil tanker for spill

Barbados is on standby as it continues to monitor any possible spills that might come from the Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit (FPSO) Nabarima, a tilting oil tanker in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad and Tobago.

On Monday an inspection team from the twin-island republic boarded the huge tanker in Venezuelan waters and is expected to submit to the government a report on whether the oil storage tanker is threatening to spill its contents.

It contains about 1.3 million barrels of crude oil  and is leaning to one side after taking on water, forcing Trinidadian authorities to grapple with how to respond to a crisis.

A press release last night said the Barbados Government had been notified in early September by the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security and Regional Security System about the FPSO Nabarima, and the National Oil Spill Committee and the National Oil Spill Response Team met on September 11 to evaluate the potential risk to Barbados and to review the readiness of the national oil spill response mechanism.

“Barbados continues to monitor the situation regarding the FPSO Nabarima and is in contact with our regional partners in Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Regional Coordinating Unit.

“The national emergency response mechanism is on standby as we continue to evaluate all scenarios, and stand ready to respond to the potential risk scenarios and to aggressively mitigate any potential impacts in the unlikely event of a release from the FPSO Nabarima,” the release stated.

It also said the committee sourced information from the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Centre – Caribe.

The committee met yesterday and updated the ministerial subcommittee comprising Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Adrian Forde; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Jerome Walcott; Minister of Maritime Affairs and Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey; Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds; and Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins. (PR/AC)