Oil Spill Spreads Across Caribbean, Posing Serious Threat

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  • Oil leaking from a capsized barge off the coast of Tobago has spread hundreds of miles to reach the Caribbean island of Bonaire.
  • Officials on Bonaire, which is located 50 miles (80km) north of the Venezuelan coast, said the oil posed a “serious threat to both humans and nature”.

Oil from a ship that capsized on a reef off the coast of the Caribbean island of Tobago has reached the island of Bonaire, that lies to the west of Trinidad & Tobago, reports Marine Insight.

Bonaire’s government has said that parts of its eastern coast have been contaminated with oil and that vulnerable mangrove, fish and coral ecosystems have been put at risk, according to Reuters

The oil was first spotted on February 7 on Tobago.

It has continued to leak from the stricken vessel although the pace of the leak has slowed.

Tests by Trinidad & Tobago’s government have confirmed the oil as intermediate fuel oil, the report said.

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Source: Marine Insight