Bonnie G grounding response continues
Written by Nick Blenkey
A dive tender takes collected debris from divers and brings it aboard the Bonnie G for disposal off Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas, Oct. 15, 2023. [U.S. Coast Guard photo]
U.S. Coast Guard Southeast reports that crews responding to the Bonnie G grounding incident conducted successful salvage and dive operations over this past weekend off Cyril E. King Airport, in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
The 195-foot Vanuatu-flagged RO/RO cargo vessel, originally delivered in 1981 as an OSV and managed by West Palm Beach, Fla., based MMS Americas LLC., grounded there October 4 during Tropical Storm Philippe, when all 12 people on board had to be rescued.
Over the weekend, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts completed their marine environmental assessment and determined response operations are not impacting coral in the area. Divers deployed, Sunday, to recover debris on the on the ocean floor. Approximately, 2,500 pounds of debris was recovered.
On Monday, divers recovered the vessel’s anchor, which had broken off during the storm.
Pollution responders have continued working to remove any oil contained in the vessel. As of Oct. 15, approximately 2,100 gallons of contained oil was removed. No sheen or discharge is currently visible outside the vessel.
Donjon Smit and the responsible party are bringing in the offshore supply vessel Harvey Challenger from Port Fourchon, La. It is scheduled to rendezvous with the Bonnie G on Oct. 22 to begin removing the fuel.
The Bonnie G can hold a maximum of 119,450 gallons of fuel, and the maximum oil is 4,219 gallons. The vessel was carrying six cars, a truck, a trailer and two pallets of cargo.
The Bonnie G grounding response incident commander and response crews are tracking storm system Invest 94L and heavy weather plans are being prepared.
