Do we want more construction...

[Daddy B]

..or to keep our reefs?

First of all, apologies if this has been covered by another thread.

Some terrible news from elsewhere, my translation...

"The freighter ship Cembay Nassau, chartered by Cemex, ran aground on Barracuda and Sábalos reefs located in the Mayan Riviera, Quintana Roo, off Xcaret park.

The ship, carrying ten thousand tons of cement, will be rescued by three five thousand horsepower tugs that will arrive from Florida.

Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, director of The National Commission for Protected Areas said officials will examine the extent of ecological damage.

The ship remains 200 meters out to sea.

The Polish captain of the Cembay, Stankiewicz Krzysztof Janusz, stated the engines went dead before arriving at the port of Calica and that a swell dragged it over to the reefs.

The Harbourmaster, Jose Florentino Gallardo reported that governmental agencies tasked with protecting the environment have started assessing the extent of damage to coral.

Biologists from the Protected Areas Commission fear that the damage to Barracuda and Sabalos may be severe due to ship's deep draft and the cargo's weight.

In addition, experts forecast damage to four of the reefs that attract most scuba divers to the region: Tortuga, Sábalos, Barracuda and the wreck of the Mama Viña, a developing artificial reef.

The 18-strong Philippino crew, a Mexican official and the Polish captain have been detained pending statements.

The Cembay Nassau measures 129 meters in length and sails under a Bahamian flag bearing the International Maritime Organization's matriculation number 9146120.

Faced with the fruitless rescue efforts from two Cozumel tugboats, Operae and Miss Coatza reinforced by a third, Navigator III from Progreso, Yucatan, the Harbourmaster authorised two more tugboats and a barge to join the salvage operation. They will arrive today from Miami.

The Cembay Nassau is the property of the Mar de Cortés shipping company and had been chartered by Mexican Cements.

Every eight days it unloads cement destined for tourist developments in Quintana Roo."

Will the Mexican authorities finally realise that having a major commercial port so close to these magnificent reefs would inevitably lead to a major disaster like this?

Will they realise the enormity of this loss, or will they simply carry on collecting the bribes under the pretence of creating construction jobs?

Is this the straw that will break the camel's back and will Mexican authorities reassess the situation regarding supplying building materilas to rampant, greedy developers?
Will they be courageous enough to put in place more stringent regulations and halting so many of the future construction projects already planned in order to save the enormous natural wealth which is the reason why so many people visit Playa del Carmen?

I shouldn't be holding my breath, the money involved and the vested interests are well beyond my comprehension, yet...

[StephenB]

The greed of worldwide big business is a disease...you're right, don't hold your breath on this one. I hope we get a damage report later from Playa's divers. You could fine these companies a billion dollars and it still won't replace the reefs.

[Tesla 573]

This is sad news..........nature's beauty should not be taken for granted.
I remember when the govt. approved building a cruise ship pier on Paraiso Reef in Cozumel........the people protested and organized rallys.....but the pier was built anyway and this on a "Protected" Reef.

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by StephenB

The greed of worldwide big business is a disease...you're right, don't hold your breath on this one. I hope we get a damage report later from Playa's divers. You could fine these companies a billion dollars and it still won't replace the reefs.

I dived Tortuga two days ago.

Didn't see any damage, but then again they still haven't dragged the freighter over it.

In fact, it was one of my best dives ever there, maybe because there were no other dive boats around.

More turtles than usual, a school of some 50 tarpon, lots of big cubera snapper, a huge spotted eagle ray surrounded by seven or eight remora and even two marlin that cruised past us during the safety stop.

As to the billion dollars fine, do you think that freighter is worth that much? Maybe the shipping company should be made to forfeit it, clean it and then it would be sunk to create an artificial reef thus going some way towards replace what they may eventually destroy.

[lolabella]

NONONO!!! I actually know these places now!! This is absolutely tragic and heartbreaking news. We know how long it takes for a reef to grow just one inch!

Anything we can do? Please keep us update, Paulo.

[MartyC]

Sad story. I don't dive but I sure can appreciate the beautiful reefs along the Riviera Maya.

[u2girlie]

Unfortunately, until people stop visiting gigantic mega resorts and demanding larger and larger facilities, the money will be good enough for officials to sacrafice the environment. As horrible as this incident is, the huge construction projects also have a daily long term impact on the flora & fauna of the area being developed. More construction = less land, more fresh water needed, more sewage, more electricity. The catch 22 is that these mega construction projects employ people who may not other wise have jobs.

However, there has to be a way to support tourism in an environmentally sustainable ways without devestating the locals who depend so much on tourism dollars.

[Buggirl]

Wow- that just plain sucks. Unfortunately, development, by definition, tends to go hand in hand with the depletion of natural ecosystems. I wouldn't hold my breath for change- rarely do the powers that be understand the enormity of the losses caused by development of environmentally sensitive areas. Money is a powerful incentive and will probably continue to trump environmental awareness.....(and of course this is a problem in many countries- not just Mexico. But the Yucatan's beautiful sea is near and dear to my heart so this hurts at a personal level)

[james]

DB, can you provide some more details? Where is the ship? Pictures? The information in the story doesn't really jive for me. It's too broad a region, and I would think the ship wouldn't have enough draught to affect Tortuga (16+ m) but if it did, then it wouldn't make it to Barry or Sabalos.

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by james

DB, can you provide some more details? Where is the ship? Pictures? The information in the story doesn't really jive for me. It's too broad a region, and I would think the ship wouldn't have enough draught to affect Tortuga (16+ m) but if it did, then it wouldn't make it to Barry or Sabalos.

Two days ago the Cembay was sitting smack atop Sábalos, its position was actually lining up longitudinally with the Barracuda and Sábalos buoys, if you see what I mean. And, it was lying between those buoys, significantly closer to Sábalos'.
The keel must be resting lower than usual since two days ago they already had two oceanic tugs pulling and pushing, respectively and the freighter wasn't even budging; I'm no expert but I would have thought that the tugs would have made some kind of headway if the Cembay didn't already have it's buoyancy somewhat impaired.
The whole area has been closed to navigation other than salvage, Navy and governmental agencies vessels; as diving goes, we can still reach Islote and southwards, or from Jardínes northwards.
Marco tells me they have started unloading some of the freighter's cargo onto the barge but it seems they will have to drag the Cembay over Tortuga to get it free.

Here's some links

News

Ship's dimensions

It seems draught is less than 9m (as you know, more than the depth at the top of Sábalos, i.e. around 7/8m) but should the ship have been taking water buoyancy could have been compromised and it will drag deeper than usual. The inner strip of Tortuga lies at around 14,5/15 m, these days.

Here's hoping for the best.

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by u2girlie

Unfortunately, until people stop visiting gigantic mega resorts and demanding larger and larger facilities, the money will be good enough for officials to sacrafice the environment. As horrible as this incident is, the huge construction projects also have a daily long term impact on the flora & fauna of the area being developed. More construction = less land, more fresh water needed, more sewage, more electricity. The catch 22 is that these mega construction projects employ people who may not other wise have jobs.

However, there has to be a way to support tourism in an environmentally sustainable ways without devestating the locals who depend so much on tourism dollars.

Originally Posted by Buggirl

Wow- that just plain sucks. Unfortunately, development, by definition, tends to go hand in hand with the depletion of natural ecosystems. I wouldn't hold my breath for change- rarely do the powers that be understand the enormity of the losses caused by development of environmentally sensitive areas. Money is a powerful incentive and will probably continue to trump environmental awareness.....(and of course this is a problem in many countries- not just Mexico. But the Yucatan's beautiful sea is near and dear to my heart so this hurts at a personal level)

Correct me if I'm wrong (but I think you may agree with me, even if I go about it in a devious, somewhat unclear way) but it just seems idiotic to allow such big ships anywhere near an already highly threatened and fragile ecossyestem, especially one that is the lifeblood of the very important diving industry of this region.
True, who needs the sea - should it stay turquoise in colour, even if greatly impoverished in terms of marine life - when you can simply admire it while drinking Margaritas on your hotel's/condo's balcony?

Here's hoping for the best, and I will keep on hoping. Thanks for your post.

[u2girlie]

Originally Posted by Daddy B

Correct me if I'm wrong (but I think you may agree with me, even if I go about it in a devious, somewhat unclear way) but it just seems idiotic to allow such big ships anywhere near an already highly threatened and fragile ecossyestem, especially one that is the lifeblood of the very important diving industry of this region.
True, who needs the sea - should it stay turquoise in colour, even if greatly impoverished in terms of marine life - when you can simply admire it while drinking Margaritas on your hotel's/condo's balcony?

Here's hoping for the best, and I will keep on hoping. Thanks for your post.

Oh, I completely agree with you. Ridiculous to allow such large ships to get so close to the area and in turn destroying what brings money into the area (diving) not to mention the more important fact of the health of the ecosystem potentially being destroyed at a time when the world's oceans are suffering irreversible damage at the hands of man. However, and certainly correct me if I am wrong, but I think that their short term financial gain of some due to construction outweighs their concern (if any) for the long term impact to the environment. When I say outweigh, I mean in their minds and certainly not in my mind.

The short term gain reminds me of what is happening now in the Gulf of Mexico...huge dead zones thanks to the run off into the Mississippi from corn farms growing bio-fuel crops. And the huge financial impact the bio-fuel industry has had on the entire world food economy. Again, a short term gain (supposed but arguable environmental gains from biofuels) and a long term problem -- another environmental crisis.

[Buggirl]

Originally Posted by Daddy B

Correct me if I'm wrong (but I think you may agree with me, even if I go about it in a devious, somewhat unclear way) but it just seems idiotic to allow such big ships anywhere near an already highly threatened and fragile ecossyestem, especially one that is the lifeblood of the very important diving industry of this region.
True, who needs the sea - should it stay turquoise in colour, even if greatly impoverished in terms of marine life - when you can simply admire it while drinking Margaritas on your hotel's/condo's balcony?

Here's hoping for the best, and I will keep on hoping. Thanks for your post.

I agree with you completely. It is foolish for these companies to risk destroying the very (extremely sensitive) thing that draws many tourists to the area in the first place. My point is that I very much doubt that the people in charge of making these decisions have the proper appreciation for exactly how sensitive and endangered the reef habitat is and that these projects pose a VERY REAL threat to destroying parts of this ecosystem. And if a ship like this is grounded on a reef- the destroyed part of the reef isn't just going to grow back in a couple of years...(and that coral reefs have a higher significance other than just being something pretty to look at...yada, yada..)

And as of yet- given how many new resorts are being built- there is no economic incentive for these companies to change their practices (resorts continue to draw large numbers of tourists- especially the nice, new ones...). Just like with the locally grown/organic food movement in the US- there needs to be pressure from the consumer for change before change will happen......until then, a business will generally go with the best bottom line.

[Mitch_NuToPlaya]

Just curious, where would a ship of this size unload it's cargo in Playa?

[Daddy B]

Originally Posted by Mitch_NuToPlaya

Just curious, where would a ship of this size unload it's cargo in Playa?

Not in Playa itself, but at the port of Calica, just south of Xcaret.

The same port used by the Cozumel car ferries.