A tug and a barge are on the way to the Virgin Islands from New York to move the Royal Miss Belmar off Great St. James Cay, a Planning and Natural Resources Department official said Wednesday. The ferry went aground the night of July 4 on a ferry trip from St. John to St. Croix following St. John Festival parade and fireworks.
Austin Callwood, DPNR’s director of environmental enforcement, said he expects the tug and barge to reach the territory Aug. 2 or 3. He said that crews this week will begin staging the area where the ferry sits on Great St. James in advance of the removal.
Once the barge and tug are in place, Callwood estimated it would take about six to eight hours to get the ferry moved.
Marjorie Smith, director of the ferry company SeaTrans, had a slightly different take on the matter. She said she doesn’t have a timetable for the ferry’s removal.
“We’re still receiving contracts, and things don’t happen overnight,” she said.
She said there are three possibilities for getting the ferry off the rocks, but said she won’t disclose details until they’re ironed out.
While the ferry’s bottom is punctured and banged up, Smith said the surveyor told her he was surprised it wasn’t worse.
The 89-foot ferry has a puncture in each pontoon, with the bottom suffering dents, Callwood said.
The ferry came out on the losing end of things when it hit the rocks on Great St. James, Callwood said.
“Surprisingly there was no coral damaged on impact,” Callwood said.
However, the elkhorn and staghorn coral under the ferry suffered in the aftermath from lines tied to the ferry and from the oil that spilled. Callwood said the coral is now suffering from bleaching.
As for penalties for the environmental damage, Callwood said they hadn’t been decided because it was too early.
“There’s still a lot more environmental assessment to be done,” he said.
About a half-dozen people were injured in the accident.
Callwood said in addition to Planning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard is working on the case.
Calls made over four days to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad were not returned.
Planning wants to see the ferry returned to service because it provides a valuable transportation link between St. Thomas and St. Croix, Callwood said.
