The multimillion-dollar yacht that ran aground on a reef off Culebra, Puerto Rico was lucky enough to survive Storm Ernesto unharmed, and the salvor is mobilizing more equipment to lift it safely off the shoal - so long as the hurricane-season weather holds.
On July 21, the catamaran sailing yacht Obsession (MMSI 378112381) went aground off Flamenco Beach, a popular vacation destination on Culebra Island. The vessel remained afloat, but it sustained flooding in one pontoon, and the crew could not pump out and remove their own vessel. Since the yacht contained an estimated 800-1,500 gallons of diesel, and the reef is an environmentally sensitive area, the Coast Guard assumed control of the response and tapped the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) to finance a cleanup.
Salvor Resolve Marine was hired to defuel and remove the vessel, and with assistance from a subcontractor, Resolve's team pumped out the bulk of the fuel from the yacht by the end of July. However, the responders believe that the vessel still represents a "substantial pollution threat" because of remaining oil products and hydraulic oil. The access hatches for the rest of the petroleum aboard the vessel are submerged or inaccessible.
Luckily for the response team, Tropical Storm Ernesto did not have an effect on the wreck site, federal on-scene coordinator Chief Warrant Officer Jamie Testa said in a statement. "Obsession remains aground and stable with no signs of external pollution,” Testa said.
Resolve is mobilizing a 400-tonne floating shearlegs barge out of the port of Baltimore, and it plans to lift the vessel clear from the grounding site for removal - with a close eye on weather conditions. The wreck's final destination has yet to be determined.
After the grounding, the $3 million yacht's owner told the Coast Guard that the salvage project would require "efforts which exceeded his capacity." Under the rules of the OSLTF, the cost of a federally-organized response will normally be recouped from the responsible party, typically the vessel's owner in a grounding casualty.
