The cargo ship MV Commander tore a gash in the coral reef off Christiansted when it grounded Jan. 31, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources said Friday in announcing the preliminary results of its environmental assessment.
The department’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recommended to the U.S. Coast Guard to replace the current “turning buoy” in the channel with a larger and more visible marker.
The Commander is a Panamanian-registered cargo ship, 218 feet long and weighing of 993 tons. On the evening of Jan. 31 it entered Christiansted harbor to drop off freight at the Gallows Bay terminal facility. According to the DPNR, as it was leaving the dock it started experiencing steering difficulty and ran aground on Round Reef, in the mouth of Christiansted harbor.
The U.S. Coast Guard investigated and reported finding no hull breaches and no leaks. The next day the vessel was able to free itself from the reef and anchored in the shipping channel north of Protestant Cay.
Fish and Wildlife was able to collect information on the ship and plot its route from the dock to the reef using the website www.marinetraffic.com.
DPNR Commissioner Alicia Barnes said that Fish and Wildlife conducted an initial site survey of areas of potential grounding and on Round Reef at the entrance of the Christiansted harbor on Tuesday.
The survey revealed a damage pattern 250 feet long by 64 feet wide on Round Reef.
Most of the substrate was dead coral, algae and hard bottom and has been pulverized and flattened, according to Barnes. A single Acropora palmata, an endangered coral, escaped damage by being in a small channel and escaped the crushing of the vessels hull.
An estimated 40 coral colonies – brain corals, mustard corals, fire corals, finger corals – may survive with triage and replanting.
Barnes noted that there have been many boat groundings on Round Reef over the years, which led the division to recommend replacement of the buoy.
Fines and penalties are being reviewed by the appropriate regulatory agencies, Barnes said.
