A ship carrying 47 diesel barrels sank off the coast of one of Ecuador’s ecologically sensitive Galapagos Islands on Saturday.
The ship, named Albatroz, sank near Santa Cruz Island, according to state-owned oil company Petroecuador.
The company said a contingency plan had been activated, with containment barriers being placed around the site of the sinking.
On board the submersible were 47 barrels of diesel fuel which, according to the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, left a “surface” smear.
All four crew members were able to escape safely from the wreck, Petroecuador added.
Images released by Galapagos National Park social media show officials reacting to the sinking of the diesel ship
An aerial view of the shipwreck shows the containment buffers used to contain potential diesel spills
A ship loaded with diesel sank off the coast of one of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands near Santa Cruz Island on Saturday. Pictured: An endemic Galapagos giant tortoise
According to the Environment Department, the boat carried about 47 barrels of diesel fuel and left a “surface” oil slick in its wake. Pictured: Authorities stationed at the site of the sunken boat
A tweet posted by the Galapagos National Park’s official account outlined an “contingency plan” that includes the use of dispersants and containment barriers. Pictured: Dispersant being added to the water by two men
A containment tree will be erected around the dump site to prevent diesel from spreading beyond the zone
Authorities said attempts were being made to bring the sunken boat back to the surface
Stingrays swim in the Pacific Ocean near the Galapagos Islands, where a ship loaded with diesel was wrecked on Saturday
The damage caused by the sinking of the ship named Albatroz is still unknown, as is the amount of fuel on board at the time and the amount that may have spilled. Pictured: A Galapagos hammerhead shark
The ship sank near Santa Cruz Island, one of the thirteen main islands of the Galapagos Archipelago
On Twitter, the Galapagos National Park’s official account said that a dispersant had been used to “limit any potential negative impact on the environment.”
According to the tweet, an attempt was made to drag Albatroz back to the surface.
Known for its giant tortoises, the UNESCO World Heritage Site is notable for being the only place on earth that is home to thousands of species.
The Coast Guard, pictured Saturday, was working to stem the spread of the oil slick
The Coast Guard was taken to the site of the doomed vessel that was transporting 47 barrels of diesel near the ecologically vulnerable Galapagos Archipelago
An enlarged marine reserve of around 40,000 square miles was announced around the Galapagos Islands by Ecuador in January following an agreement at COP26
The sunken ship, a submersible called the Albatroz, is being pulled out of the water as part of a contingency plan
Absorbent material is placed near the burial site by first responders
An estimated 97 percent of Galapagos reptiles are found nowhere else on earth
An estimated 80 percent of the archipelago’s land birds are endemic to the archipelago
The sinking of the diesel ship comes just months after Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso expanded the protected marine zone around the Galapagos Islands by nearly 40,000 square miles.
Expanding the marine reserve around the archipelago was the first step in a plan Ecuador agreed with Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama at last year’s COP26 in Glasgow to create an underwater corridor through which marine animals threatened by climate change can safely migrate.
In January, after signing a decree creating the Protected Marine Zone, President Guillermo Lasso said, “We are declaring a Marine Protected Area covering an area of 60,000 square kilometers, equivalent to an area three times the size of Belize” around the Galapagos Islands.
