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Ship runs aground off Lauderdale, possibly damaging reef
By David Fleshler
and Ardy Friedberg Staff Writers
Posted June 27 2003
A 585-foot cement freighter ran aground off Fort Lauderdale on Thursday morning, possibly damaging a coral reef.
The Alam Senang, which flies a Malaysian flag, hit a reef about 1 1/2 miles offshore from the Yankee Clipper hotel about 7 a.m., the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard divers found no damage to the ship, but state and county biologists plan to dive to the reef to look for damage to coral, sponges and other creatures that live there.
"When a ship goes aground, it can be like a bulldozer blade going through a forest," said Walt Jaap, associate research scientist with the Florida Marine Research Institute, a branch of state government. "It can take everything with it."
Salvage workers successfully refloated the ship Thursday night just before high tide.
The reef is the middle of three parallel reefs off Fort Lauderdale. At least a dozen species of coral live on the reef, including eyelet coral, finger coral and different types of brain coral, Jaap said. Biologists will first determine whether there's broken coral that can be rescued and reattached.
After assessing the damage, they will meet with lawyers for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to decide whether the company should pay money to mitigate the harm or pay a fine. Owners of ships have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and occasionally more than $1 million -- for damaging reefs in Florida.
The ship hit a section of reef that has been "pounded by groundings," said Ken Banks, a reef expert with the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection. In the mid-1990s, Port Everglades designated an anchoring area farther away to protect the reef, which reduced the number of groundings, he said.
Customs agents checked the cargo and background of the crew and found nothing unusual, said Zachary Mann, spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service.
By David Fleshler
and Ardy Friedberg Staff Writers
Posted June 27 2003
A 585-foot cement freighter ran aground off Fort Lauderdale on Thursday morning, possibly damaging a coral reef.
The Alam Senang, which flies a Malaysian flag, hit a reef about 1 1/2 miles offshore from the Yankee Clipper hotel about 7 a.m., the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard divers found no damage to the ship, but state and county biologists plan to dive to the reef to look for damage to coral, sponges and other creatures that live there.
"When a ship goes aground, it can be like a bulldozer blade going through a forest," said Walt Jaap, associate research scientist with the Florida Marine Research Institute, a branch of state government. "It can take everything with it."
Salvage workers successfully refloated the ship Thursday night just before high tide.
The reef is the middle of three parallel reefs off Fort Lauderdale. At least a dozen species of coral live on the reef, including eyelet coral, finger coral and different types of brain coral, Jaap said. Biologists will first determine whether there's broken coral that can be rescued and reattached.
After assessing the damage, they will meet with lawyers for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to decide whether the company should pay money to mitigate the harm or pay a fine. Owners of ships have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and occasionally more than $1 million -- for damaging reefs in Florida.
The ship hit a section of reef that has been "pounded by groundings," said Ken Banks, a reef expert with the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection. In the mid-1990s, Port Everglades designated an anchoring area farther away to protect the reef, which reduced the number of groundings, he said.
Customs agents checked the cargo and background of the crew and found nothing unusual, said Zachary Mann, spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service.
