tHreatens tHe Caribbean sea

Listing Venezuelan Vessel Risks Massive Oil Spill in the Caribbean

Would represent greater western coast of Venezuela. An oil spill in that area would therefore devastate the Caribbean’s leakage than the infamous delicate ecosystems. If no action is taken to prevent an oil spill, Exxon oil spill it would represent a greater environmental catastrophe than the Exxon Valdez oil spill of The Weekly Journal Staff 1989, which spilled 260,000 barrels (10.8 million gallons) of crude oil in Prince William Sound, Several government entities and organizations warned that Nabarima, a Venezuelan-flagged vessel, is at risk of spilling millions of gallons of oil in the Gulf of Paria in the Caribbean Sea, raising environmental concerns for the Alaska. To date, the Exxon Valdez disaster is considered the worst oil spill in terms of its effects on the environment. The Trinidad-based environmental group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, which represents 50,000 people in the industry, has called for a national emergency, noting that the spill would crush fishermen’s livelihoods, as well region. as destroy millions of wildlife. In a video published

According to Newsweek, by the group, Gary Aboud, its efforts are underway to unload corporate secretary, denounced the crude oil aboard as safely as government inaction, saying: possible. Since Aug. 13, the Commission In fact, “What we found is frightening … This requires a national of Environment, Natural emergency.” In the video, shared Resources and Climate Change on Facebook, the vessel is shown of the Venezuelan National The Nabarima tilted and barely held together by

Assembly has warned about the is anchored in a couple of anchors. risk posed by the vessel, which the Gulf of Paria, “We strongly support has been abandoned since located between the immediate actions to bring the

January 2019 after Petrosucre Caribbean island Nabarima up to international shut down production at the of Trinidad and the safety standards and avoid

Corocoro oil field following U.S. western coast of possible environmental harm, sanctions by President Donald Venezuela. An oil which could negatively impact Trump. The Commission’s spill in that area not only the Venezuelan president, María G. Hernández would devastate the people but also those in nearby del Castillo, denounced that the Caribbean’s delicate countries. Pdvsa (Petróleos de risk of an oil spill has “increased ecosystems. Venezuela) has a responsibility alarmingly.” to take action to avoid an

“The tanker Nabarima, which environmental disaster in is anchored in the Gulf of Paria, Venezuelan waters,” the U.S. is presumably loaded with 1.3 Embassy of Trinidad & Tobago million barrels of crude (54.6 million gallons), informed in a statement last Friday. as a result of the weight and tides, the ship is The threat of a devastating spill could perceived to be more inclined (listing) than what potentially reinvigorate environmental discussions was reported last August,” Hernández said in an about oil. Greenpeace, a renowned eco-conscious official missive. organization, has repeatedly advocated stopping

The Gulf of Paria is an inland sea located the use of oil altogether, warning that “it’s not a between the Caribbean island of Trinidad and the question of if oil will spill, it is a question of when.”

The Nabarima vessel has been idle since January 2019, but 1.3 million barrels of crude oil remain onboard. >Fishermen and Friends of the Sea/Reuters

Moreover, Hernández affirmed that Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro dictatorship is destroying the country’s natural spaces, with effects that could impact the whole world. “We already have enough with the destruction of the south of our land, our Amazon, with that badly named Mining Arc. Furthermore, all the disaster that PDVSA is generating in its refineries, spills from Morichal in Monagas, passing through Anzoátegui, Carabobo in El Palito, the spill on the gulf in the Cardón refinery, denounced in satellite images by Professor Eduardo Klein, which is still ongoing, and the constant spills on the Maracaibo Lake in Zulia. The dictatorship has made our iconic lake black, as its conscience, oil comes out even on the streets of Cabimas,” she said.