FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (12 Oct 2004) -- A freighter is finally moving after four days of being stuck in Port Everglades. But the move didn't come without a price. Divers say they found extensive damage to the reef where the Federal Pescadores ran aground. "We get out there and see an area that usually has a lot of three dimension to it, and suddenly it's flat like a parking lot," diver Brian Ettinger said. "It's pretty dramatic." Tugboats pulled the freighter into deeper water Sunday evening, clearing the way for divers to go in. Underwater video shows where coral once flourished, now there is rubble. In one spot, the ship scraped the reef, leaving behind only limestone. "We saw an area of 150 to 200 feet wide by maybe 400 feet in length. Some of the area was sheared clean," Ettinger said. The 546-foot ship ran aground off Fort Lauderdale late Wednesday night after leaving Port Everglades with a load of cement bound for Port Canaveral. The Coast Guard is investigating. Over the weekend, work crews pumped out fuel to lighten the Panamanian-flagged ship. Several tugboats hauled it east, allowing it to float for the first time in four days. | | Divers document reef damage caused by grounded freighter. There were no injuries, no damage to the ship and no discharge of fuel oil or other pollutants. But the ship ran aground among reefs that have sustained repeated strikes from freighters and other ships calling on the port or using the anchorages off Fort Lauderdale. "The area itself took about 5 to 10,000 years to develop to where it is now. It will take immeasurable amount of time to recover from this damage," said Lou Fisher, of the Department of Environmental Protection. Since 1998, five major groundings have taken place on the reefs north of Port Everglades. SOURCE - WTVJ |
