11,840 sq ft of coral reef smashed to pieces by a cruise ship.

Who is at fault? Who is taking the responsibility?

Answer: No one.

How could this happen?

On Wednesday 27^th August the Carnival Magic’s cruise ship’s massive anchor was dropped far south of the usual anchorage #4 spot.

There are four anchorages that are located and marked with lighted buoys within the defined Port Anchorage Area as per the Port Regulations.

So why was this anchor dropped outside the defined area?

The Cayman Islands Port Authority told local divers from Don Foster who had reported the southerly position of the anchor that it had been checked by the authority patrol and the anchor was on a sand patch and not the reef.

Really?

The authority patrol had checked it?

Rubbish.

“If you don’t believe us – check it yourself” was the sort of message the divers got.

The divers did. They found the anchor was on the coral and not the sand bed.

They reported this to the Port Authority and the Department of Environment (DoE).

The Department of Environment then got the Port Authority to relocate the ship back to the #4 spot.

Hurrah.

But worse was to be revealed.

Attached to a massive ship’s anchor is a very large and heavy chain. The chain was allowed to lay over the coral reef for around two hours. Chains drag and move about. This one caused a large area of damage by doing just that. Then, when the ship was relocated, the chain was pulled up it caused even more damage.

Tim Austin, the DoE’s expert, has reported that within the 11,840 sq ft footprint approximately 5,380 sq. ft. is severely impacted with near complete destruction. The remainder has varying degrees of impact from severe to moderate.

So the cruise ship is at fault and will have to pay for the remedial work if such a thing is possible.

Right?

No.

The cruise lines directly engage pilots through their shipping agent to guide their ships to the anchorages. The pilots are not employees of the Port Authority and are not contracted by the Port Authority. Therefore the port authority has denied any responsibility especially when they have a patrol that cannot tell the difference between sand and coral.

According to a report on CNS it was a “Bodden Shipping port pilot who directed the ship but the Carnival Captain still had the ultimate authority for his ship and can overrule the Port Pilot and choose not to anchor if he is concerned. On the day in question it seems that while the pilot had made a concerted effort to get the ship to drop its anchor in sand it missed the intended drop site by around fifty feet. But had the anchor landed in sand the location would still have seen the chain over the reef.”

Is this the first time this has happened?

No.

Has anything been done to correct the situation?

No.

We should be concerned.

How could this happen?

Will it happen again?

Of course.

Why wouldn’t it?

We don’t have a clear policy with strict rules.

That’s why it happened.