On Saturday Morning October 20th 4.45am the harbor master received a report of an oil spill in the territorial waters of St.Eustatius. At first light the local team consisting of harbor, police, shipping inspectorate and Stenapa were mobilized to survey the spill area.
The assistance of the coastguard was requested, and the cutter puma was deployed to assist with surveying of the site and ascertaining the overall size, location and direction of the spill. The coastguard surveillance aircraft joined the operation at 13:00 and assisted in monitoring movement of the spill and surrounding areas. The slick covered an area of approximately four square kilometers. In collaboration with Nustar under the coordination of the local authorities supported by Rijkwaterstaat Nederlands (RWS) the containment activities were initiated and all available assets were mobilized, concentrating efforts on containment and cleanup. After investigating several suspect ships the source of the spill was determined to be a ruptured hose located at Nustar docking facility. This rupture resulted in a spill of approximately 2 metric tons of heavy fuel oil. Favorable weather conditions continue to facilitate containment and cleanup operations while the investigation into the incident continues.
Island Governor
Chairman Disaster Committee