Boyson Inc.’s General II barge went aground outside Cruz Bay Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard and eyewitnesses said.
The incident happened about a half-mile west of Enighed Pond Marine Facility near Moravian Point, also called Moorehead Point. The location was near a buoy that marks a reef.
“The General II was able to pull itself off,” Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said.
Eyewitnesses said the another Boyson barge, the Mr. B, had attempted to pull the General II free before the barge was able to free itself.
Castrodad said the case of the accident remains unknown but is under investigation. He said the Coast Guard got the call from a citizen at 4:30 p.m.
He said Good Samaritan vessels took 31 people off the General II. The vehicles remained on board. Steve Black, whose house overlooks the barge channel, said at one point about a dozen small boats were at the scene.
Black said that a Coast Guard plane flew back and forth overhead. Castrodad said that in addition to the plane, the Coast Guard also sent a 25-foot response boat with a pollution investigator on board as well as the cutter Reef Shark.
“So far, there is no indication of pollution,” Castrodad said.
Another eyewitness, Source contributor Pamela Reid, was sailing back from St. John to St. Thomas when she happened upon the stuck barge.
“The starboard side appeared to be lower than the port side,” she said.
Reid said she could overhear the conversation between the barge captain and the Coast Guard over the boat’s marine radio. She said she heard that the barge had 3,000 gallons of fuel on board but that none of it had leaked.
“And they said they were not taking on water,” Reid added.
V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove said the park was standing by to assist. He also noted the incident happened outside park waters. He said it took until about 6:30 p.m. to get all the passengers on the barge off.
Reports indicated that a Planning and Natural Resources Department boat was also on the scene. Planning spokesman Jamal Nielsen referred calls to Roberto Tapia of the Enforcement Division, but he did not return a cell phone message.
