ASSESSING THE DAMAGE
Last week we reported briefly on the damage to the coral reefs at the George Town harbour in the Cayman Islands. Diver Scott Prodahl took images of the impact of an anchor from a Zenith Cruise ship breaking off coral. Initially the Cayman Island’s Department of Environment determined that although it was “not good to look at” the site had been previously impacted. Since then Prodahl’s video has received 350,000 hits and the government is now conducting tests to determine the overall damage.
Cayman Islands Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell has confirmed that the Department of Environment and Cayman Islands Port Authority has launched an investigation into the destruction of a stretch of coral reef by a cruise ship off the coast of Grand Cayman. When Zenith arrived to Cayman Islands earlier this month they were directed to the rarely used southern anchorage. At the time, Scott Slybaugh, deputy director of operations and enforcement with the department of environment told the Cayman Reporter ‘there was no sign of negligence’ by Zenith’s crew, although it appeared the reef suffered ‘significant’ damage. He said, “While the northern anchorages have been long devoid of coral through years of anchoring, the southern anchorage is not often used so some remnants of coral reef remain.”
Scott Prodahl and other divers thought the ship was oddly close to the reef so they decided to investigate. They found the ship’s anchor on a bed of coral, moving back and forth with the water movement, breaking off pieces. They produced video and uploaded it. A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International said, “When Pullmantur Zenith arrived to Grand Cayman they were directed to a designated anchorage position. The spot where the ship dropped anchor was correct, located in the zone designated by the government for anchorage, and was not in any protected areas.” “This is a very unfortunate situation and we will work closely with Grand Cayman authorities to ensure this does not happen again.
“Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd understands the importance of protecting the marine environment and sustaining the well-being of the places we visit. Protecting the health and welfare of our oceans is always foremost in our minds.’’ The Cayman Islands' Marine Conservation Laws state "Damaging coral by anchor, chains or any other means ANYWHERE in Cayman waters is prohibited." American maritime lawyer Jim Walker reported in Cruise Law News that “The fact of the matter is that live coral was directly under the Zenith cruise ship which made no efforts to verify the underwater conditions.”
Last year a local pilot boat operated by Bodden Shipping Agency guided a Carnival cruise ship to anchor outside of the designated public port anchorage. The anchor was not set on sand, and 137 metres (450 feet) of chain landed on the reefs, causing significant damage.