The tug boat Solo Creed, which was responsible for abandoning the capsized barge Gulfstream and causing a major oil spill in Tobago in February this year, has been “arrested” by Trinidad and Tobago officials in Angola.
The announcement came from Finance Minister Colm Imbert as he wrapped up the 2025 Budget debate in the Senate yesterday.
While on his legs, Imbert was passed a piece of paper which he read from into the Hansard.
“The Attorney General has asked me to announce…on Friday last, through the Attorney General’s office, Trinidad and Tobago arrested the tug, the Solo Creed in Angola, which was the abandoned barge of Tobago that caused so much damage in Tobago,” he said.
“That is performance PNM style, performance PNM style. We tracked down that barge and we arrested it,” he added.
A ship arrest refers to a civil law procedure whereby a marine vessel may be arrested by judicial process and held under State authority. The ship is detained for the purpose of securing a maritime claim.
The February 7, 2024 oil spill affected Tobago’s coastline between Scarborough and Cove.
Over 50, 000 barrels of oil were extracted from the barge.
In May, Guardian Media reported exclusively that it was seized in Luanda, Angola.
Since February 5, the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) location broadcast had been switched off, and two days later, on February 7, fuel began leaking from the overturned, clearly abandoned barge.
In June, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young said despite great efforts all searches had failed to locate the tug Solo Creed.
He said that the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard had been working in close collaboration with the Guyana Coast Guard and the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) to assist in identifying the owner.
“Once ownership is established, this Government will take legal action against the purported owners of the barge Gulfstream and/or the owner of the tug Solo Creed,” Young said then.
Guardian Media reached out to Minister Young, who is acting as Prime Minister, as well as Attorney General Reginald Armour, seeking to find out the next steps now that the Solo Creed had been arrested. THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine was also contacted for his reaction. However, there was no response up to press time.