The Gulf of Abandoned Vessels
How many shipwrecks lie beneath the calm waters of our Gulf of Paria, from the Venezuelan side and Trinidad’s industrial west coast? Dr Anjani Ganase speculates on the effects of disintegrating vessels. She asks for some system to register and regulate ships in our waters, especially those that are likely to be abandoned here.
When you take the passenger vessel to Tobago, you will be familiar with the views of Trinidad’s coastline from the north-western Peninsula and along the north coast. You will also see, especially in the calm Gulf, a number of old vessels anchored or partially submerged, as the ferry cruises by. As a marine biologist, I imagine the sea below the listing ship, I imagine a seabed littered with boat parts, garbage and seeping chemical waste from the hull. Consider that this is only a small section of the Gulf of Paria which is an industrial coast. One can’t help but wonder how many of these abandoned and submerged wrecks might actually lie at the bottom of the Gulf. Reports suggest that up to 40 or more vessels have been counted in the Gulf of Paria. Maybe this is likely what is observed on the surface, but as vessels sink below the surface they slip out of sight and out of mind. However, this is not the case for everyone crossing the Gulf: fishermen and boat drivers have to become more and more mindful of these submerged vessels, and what about those less familiar navigating the area?
The End of Life for an Abandoned Vessel
Derelict vessels also threaten marine life as they can leak pollutants, including oils and fuels that contaminate the surrounding environment. Oils and fuels, even in small amounts, are toxic to the marine fauna; they also blanket the surface preventing light from penetrating underwater. As the vessel takes on water and sinks, loose items drift into the water column and can cause entrapment of animals. When the vessel eventually settles on the bottom, it will crush and destroy benthic habitats, including ecologically sensitive seagrass, mangroves and coral reefs. Even on sandy bottoms, sunken vessels are hard structures that will alter water flow and sand aggregation which may impact other ecosystems. Over time, as the sunken vessel continues to degrade underwater, rusting and giving way to water movement, it falls apart in sections and continues to do damage over a larger area through further crushing and scouring. While fibreglass vessels may break up more easily, metal vessels undergo corrosion and leach metal compounds into the surrounding marine environment. Devastating impacts of shipwrecks were observed on the Palmyra atoll in the Pacific, where iron from the vessel leached out into an iron poor marine environment and resulted in the surrounding coral reefs becoming overgrown by algae and soft coral, essentially wiping out the biodiversity in the area. The longer shipwrecks are left abandoned to settle on the bottom, the harder they may be to remove without additional damage to the ecosystem.
It may have once been thought a good idea to purposefully sink large vessels to create artificial reefs in order to attract fish life on sandy bottom habitats and to create tourist attraction. This notion is now outdated as it does more harm than good, Research has shown that shipwrecks do not improve marine ecosystems and, in many circumstances, compromise the health of the surrounding habitats. As a fish attractor, they do not improve fish communities, rather shipwrecks simply concentrate the existing population making them easier to catch, exacerbating the over-exploitation of reef fish.
Removing abandoned vessels is also extremely costly, especially after they have been allowed to sink and disintegrate. Indeed, it is likely that many boats are abandoned by owners who can’t afford to remove them. A survey of regulations for getting rid of abandoned vessels vary from no regulations at all to systems that regulate proper stripping procedures of the vessels before allowing them to be sunk. The strictest, but most environmentally friendly option allows the state to remove dilapidated vessels and issue fines for damages. This of course is contingent on knowing who is responsible for the vessel. And all regulations and enforcement require the laws to support the action; this may be something that needs investigation, enactment and enforcement in Trinidad and Tobago.
More responsible ownership can be mandated by the implementation of a compulsory vessel registration and insurance system that includes services for removing and disposal of vessels when there has been a disaster, or when the vessel is at the end of its life. Owners of vessels that are left abandoned and cause hazards should also be fined the amount equivalent to the removal of the vessel and to mitigate ecological damages. However, prevention is preferable to environmental damage and costs incurred by management agencies who will become the garbage collectors of the sea, continually removing vessel waste.
The primary consideration however is greater regard for the ocean. Remember, if we mistreat the ocean, we mistreat our principal source of food, oxygen and life on our blue world.
Reference
https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/publications-files/2017_ADV_Fact_Sheet.pdf
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