tankers=ships

In your second sentence, yes. In your third I think it means "trucks"?

Westerhaven Off The Reef
Tonight the Westerhaven cargo ship is off the reef but it is still in Belizean waters. As we’ve been reporting – the cargo ship ran aground in an area of the barrier reef near Caye Glory while leaving Belize sometime late on Tuesday night. Marine scientist Melanie McField estimates that the ship damaged as much as 10 thousand square meters of pristine reef- damages she estimated at $20 million.

And that is why the Port Authority has issued a “prohibition of sail” order which means the ship can’t leave until the Port Authority says so. It was however hauled off the reef around 2 pm yesterday. The Department of Environment and the Port Authority are still assessing damages which they say are in the vicinity of US$15 million. The ship was reportedly on autopilot when it ran aground. It was bound for Santo Tomas in Guatemala.

It ran aground in a popular fishing area for commercial fishermen known as “Emily.”

Channel 7

$30Mil Damage to Reef



On Tuesday, January 13, the cargo ship Westerhaven, went aground on our Barrier Reef and has been described as one of the worst ever to our reefs, the longest living in the world. The vessel lay atop the Barrier Reef near Caye Glory, 32 miles from Belize City for about a week before it could be properly removed.

The ship left Belize City en route to Santo Tomas, Guatemala, after 8:00 p.m on Tuesday, January 13, after dropping off a few containers and the damage to the reef is considerable. According to Ports Commissioner Major Lloyd Jones, on Tuesday, January 13 around 10:00 p.m. the pilot disembarked at English Caye and then the Ship Master plotted a course on a heading of 170 degrees. The autopilot was then engaged and about 30 minutes later the ship ran aground onto the reef and that is the source of controversy. The course heading 170 degrees should have taken the ship at least 1.1 or 1.2 miles away from the reef, but instead it went aground on our precious Barrier Reef.

“The boat went parallel to the reef crust and just pushed the slope of the reef which is where we had these nice spur and grove formations; hills of coral and valleys of sand,” commented Melanie McField, Marine Scientist.

“The boat, just as it got shallower, scraped up the slope and flattened everything. So the whole reef, the structure; everything, not just individual coral heads, the whole structure is pulverized. It looks like a steam roller ran over it. It’s really amazing; it’s the size of a football field and maybe wider. So it’s a large area that’s completely flattened.”


Ports Commissioner Lloyd Jones stated that his team, along with the Department of the Environment and the Fisheries Department, have been at the site. However, the official inquiry as mandated by the Harbors and Merchant Shipping Act will take place once the vessel is removed from the reef. Two salvage experts were brought in from the U.S. to assess the situation.

And while varying figures on damages have been thrown around, the Ports Commissioner has confirmed that the Port will be suing the ship owners for 15 million US dollars, for damages caused to the reefs due to negligence of the operators of the Westerhaven., which the Ports Authority is currently filing for damages in the courts.

And on Monday, January 19, a U.S. based team with tugboats dislodged the Westerhaven from the reef. The vessel was placed under anchorage along with its cargo. The suit brought against the Westerhaven was filed on behalf of the Attorney General, which means that any monies recovered will go back into the government treasury and not necessarily towards any environmental initiative to protect the reef.

Major Jones believes that the ship owners will move to deal with the matter swiftly since the cargo is also held in custody. The Westerhaven has been docked in anchorage about four miles from the port, where it will sit until the dispute has been settled.

And if the name of the cargo ship sounds familiar that’s because it has been in the news before. On October 2008, hazardous material from a barrel in a container consigned to Belize Natural Energy was leaking. That situation was contained and there were no damages to Belizean waters.

Ambergris Today

I think suitable compensation would be for the ship to be confiscated and sunk as a man-made reef in a popular diving area, such as off San Pedro

Port Authority Says Westerhaven was Negligent

The verdict on the Westerhaven cargo ship that crashed into Belize’s reef two weeks ago is in. 7NEWS is reliably informed this evening that the ports navigational investigation on the grounding of Wsterhaven is complete. The determination we are told finds that the ship and its captain Fritz Schroeder were negligent. That determination activates section 29 of the Environmental Act which would allow the department of environment to charge the ship’s owner – 3 times the damage.

In this case that’s roughly $30 million multiplied by three which amounts to $90 million. Of course that is what the law says but more than likely – a settlement will be worked out with the ship’s owner.

The ship left Belize on Tuesday night January 13th enroute to Guatemala but on its way out – it crashed into the reef in an area known as Caye Glory. The captain Fritz Schroeder says the ship was on autopilot when it ran aground. The ship is registered in the Netherlands.

The Department of Environment and the Fisheries Department are still tallying the true damage and we are told the Department of Environment is finished with its assessment. A final figure should be decided upon by Monday.

7 News

US$26 million is the official cost of reef damage

The final figures for damages caused to Belize’s Barrier reef was officially released today by Martin Alegria, Chief Environmental Officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources. And the numbers have gone up considerably; in fact, almost doubled. The initial damage estimate was US$15 million and Alegria says that there were other factors to consider before bumping up the final figure to US$26 million or BZ$52 million. What were those factors? And will Belize be able to collect that large fine? That’s what we asked Alegria today.

Martin Alegria, C.E.O., Ministry of Natural Resources
“As of today we have finalized a joint report between Fisheries and us in terms of the damage assessed in terms of ecological damage to the structure, what was totally irreversibly damaged, what was recoverable and so on and valued those completely destroyed and partially destroyed. The sum up to now has been around $26 to $27 million.”

Jose Sanchez
“That’s in Belize or U.S. currency?”

Martin Alegria
“U.S. - we calculate based on U.S. globally accepted standards; formulas and experiences and cases and based on U.S. dollars.”

Jose Sanchez
“I was told it was possible that figure could be multiplied by three.”

Martin Alegria
“What happens is, according to the Environmental Act, if a criminal charge is brought and there is supporting documentation reported from other agencies that there was some type of negligence, recklessness, wanton disregard; those sort of things from the crew, especially the captain, then it allows that to triple that penalty. I’m not saying that it might happen or could happen, but it depends on what other agencies and other investigations reveal, when I haven’t had the opportunity yet to have conclusive evidence.”

Jose Sanchez
“It’s not only the reef, I was told that there was an aggregate spawning site nearby…”

Martin Alegria
“Talking about valuation, why most of us will open our eyes big when we hear those figures is because added on to the actual physical damage to the reef which, as I said, some is irreparable, we have to take into consideration other issues. Within the module or the formula you have value in terms of tourism, revenue generated from tourism, ecosystem in terms of nursery.”

The matter of the Westerhaven is officially under investigation by the Department of Environment as well as the police, who is working with D.O.E. to locate a person of interest for questioning in relation to the incident on the reef.

Channel 5

The Westerhaven Receives Bail

The Department of Environment estimates that when it crashed into Belize’s reef two weeks ago, the Westerhaven cargo ship caused US$26.9 million in damages. Today the case went to court and arguments were presented. There has been no ruling, but the Chief Justice did grant the ship bail.
It may sound weird, but the Chief Justice ruled that the ship – which has been in custody of the port since it was removed from the reef – could be released if the owner provides US$6.5 million as a security, or get one of the commercial banks or insurance companies to sign for it. When we checked this evening, the ship had not met the bail.
Channel 7

So once they've paid the US$6.5m and left the country, when and how do we get the US$20m-odd balance?

Gotta keep the ship. The Master and First Officer bailed out and went missing.