Mindless Reef Destruction

[stevenhmiller]

I was in Roatan when this massive boat dropped anchor. I was staying at Bananarama and took this picture of it. It sure is a sight to see. But, the damage it caused is massive!

 

[aubie85]

All I have to say is: Karma's a b***h.........

 

[JonKranhouse]

I just received this eMail from a Palm Beach, Florida attorney who represents the yacht owner in question. Below are quotes from the OP and from someone who claims to be an official from the park. Clearly, there is a disagreement RE the facts that purportedly occurred / did not occur. Of course, the eMail below must be carefully examined for cleverly parsed statements, including the claim: "...or cause damage to any reef while in Honduran waters."

It would be great if both the OP and "Roatan Marine Park," quoted below, would each respond to this eMail from Mr. Maass, and keep everyone at SB in the loop.
---------------
Dear Mr. Kranhouse,

Our firm represents the owner of "Mayan Queen IV." We have investigated the allegations in your email and can confirm that our client's vessel did not anchor in any unauthorized area or cause damage to any reef while in Honduran waters. To the contrary, the vessel's captain coordinated all movements of the vessel through a local agent, Anacaribe, which obtained specific permission from park authorities for the vessel to anchor in the Roatan Marine Park. Further, the captain adhered strictly to the anchoring instructions he was given. No patrol boat ever approached the vessel and no park ranger ever contacted the vessel for any reason. The captain did note that there were other large vessels in the area at the time. We can assume only that, if damage was done to any reef at that time, one of these other vessels was at fault.

Sincerely,
Robb R. Maass
Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay, P.A.
P.O. Box 431
340 Royal Poinciana Way
Suite 321
Palm Beach, Florida 33480
U.S.A.

Tel: +1-561-659-1770
Fax: +1-561-833-2261

E-mail:robb.maass@amrl.com
---------------

Much to the delight and praise of the local real estate agents, Roatan was visited by dedicated Mexican yachtsman Albert Bailleres on his very impressive yacht the Mayan Queen during the week of March 12th. Impressive may be an understatement. The 74 year old billionaire, whoÃÔ inherited wealth (5+ billion dollars) originating from logging and mining enterprises, has purchased one beautiful boat. The 300 foot yacht created quite an impressive sight cruising by West End, here on Roatan, awing onlookers with its obvious elegance and luxury.
The Mayan Queen, whose owner Alberto may have been on board, was observed maneuvering in the area of the local dive site Å´eaquest? well within the protected waters of the Roatan Marine Park. The Marine Park, was established to preserve and protect the delicate ecosystem of the barrier reef, and enhance the diving and tourist activities that are so important to the economy of this poor country, and allows no anchoring of any kind within its jurisdiction. There by helping to insure the health of the reef, and the opportunity for viewing and enjoying it now, and in future generations.
It is hard to describe the emotions felt upon witnessing the destruction of the coral reef by the anchor of the Mayan Queen. The shock, nausea, horror, and dismay of seeing 5m wide path 200m long, starting in a shallow sand patch and plowing through the wall of the centuries old barrier reef. Destruction abounds. This section of the barrier reef now resembles a building demolition site, with concrete like rubble strewn in big blocks along the anchors merciless path. The devastation of the ancient reef has uprooted coral, ruined precious habitat, and destroyed sponges as old as the avid yachtsman himself.
It is hard to imagine that the pilot of such a magnificent yacht as the Mayan Queen, could be so inept in his task, and so self righteous as to ignore Honduran Law and the regulations of Roatan Marine Preserve. What possible reason could a person have for taking such illegal actions piloting one of the top twenty yachts in the world, whoÃÔ outfitting, equipment, and instrumentation must resemble that of the Space Shuttle?
So, thank you Alberto Bailleres for letting us view your magnificent boat, and leaving a dying legacy here on RoatanÃÔ reef. I personally would invite you to sail long and proud, within the borders of your home country, where your blatant disregard for local laws may be returned in kind.

The Roatan Marine Park has been working with West End Divers dive shop to document the damage caused by the anchor. Staff trained in Coral Reef CSI and Dive Instructors are currently making surverys of the damaged area, and intend to present their finding to the local authorities.

On the day in question, when it was reported to us that a boat large boat wished to anchor within the Park, we immediately responded by sending one of patrol boats to inform them that it is illegal to anchor on the reef. There are witnesses who can vouch that the captain dismissed our advice and never-the-less weighed anchor. RMP does not have the legal power to arrest and or confiscate a vessel this size.

The Park provides moorings for visiting yachts, but clearly nothing adequate to hold a boat of this size due to the high cost of this type of mooring.

Last year, Mexican billionaire Carols Slim Helu visited Roatan on a mega yacht for a few days. The captain of the vessel had hoped to anchor in West Bay and contacted the Marine Park and other authorities regarding the matter. Several island representatives were taken on a helicopter to survey the area and corroborate it would be impossible for a vessel that size to anchor within the Park. The captain agreed on the matter and took the boat elsewhere.

We hope that by working with the Municipality of Roatan, ZOLITUR and BICA, we will be able to present a solid case to the Honduran Government who will be able to follow up on the matter.

We would like to thank all those that have showed interest in the matter and hope that a solution can be found very soon.

Working for the reef
Roatan Marine Park

The link to send a message to penoles.com is not functioning on their server.
But their investor-relations page has three e-mail addresses.
I just sent the following message to all three.
I suggest more SBrs do so. As a publicly traded company, they are sensitive to publicized criticisms. Let's hope they do the right thing.

Francisco Corona Francisco_Corona@penoles.com.mx

Karina Acosta Karina_Acosta@penoles.com.mx

Ana Zarate Ana_Zarate@penoles.com.mx

--
Hello,

During the week of March 12th 2009 Mr. Bailleres' yacht, the Mayan Queen, destroyed part of a reef in Roatan - a swath 5M x 200M was gouged by the ship's anchor, within a PROTECTED MARINE PARK where ships of the Mayan Queen's size are prohibited from anchoring. This event has been discussed around the world on various scuba diving web forums, but there has been no response from your company about mitigating the damage.

PLEASE release a statement to confirm that Mr. Bailleres will fund repairs to the damaged reef. Similar reef-rebuilding projects have succeeded after damage was caused by cruise-ships.

If your company ignores this matter, you can be assured that recreational divers around the world will not forget. Do not underestimate the power of instant global communication via the Internet to reduce Mr.Bailleres' prestige, influence and respectability, if he chooses not to take responsibility for this unfortunate occurrence.

STATEMENT FROM THE ROATAN MARINE PARK AUTHORITIES:
"On the day in question, when it was reported to us that a boat large boat wished to anchor within the Park, we immediately responded by sending one of patrol boats to inform them that it is illegal to anchor on the reef. There are witnesses who can vouch that the captain dismissed our advice and never-the-less weighed anchor. RMP does not have the legal power to arrest and or confiscate a vessel this size."

Thank you,
Jon Kranhouse
HydroOptix LLC
-----

 

[stevenhmiller]

I was there when This boat was anchored (see my picture in previous post). The next largest boat I was able to see all day and that evening would have been about 40' long, which was anchored by shore. I also have a picture of that one, and in my opinion, the smaller boat could not have done that kind of damage. The next day when I went down for breakfast, The Mayan was gone. There were no other boats around during that time period that could have done such damage. Of course they are going to say it was the other boats, who would admit to such a thing?

 

[Ayisha]

Jon, I sent emails 2 weeks ago to all 3 email addresses that you gave on the previous page, and I also just got the exact same email from Mr. Maass today. I wonder how many emails they got in order to respond with a form letter at the same time? Hopefully many.

My gut instinct when I read it was to believe all the eyewitnesses, many of them who have nothing to gain from this matter. Actually, my gut instinct was "BS"! I was also a little perturbed that they attempted to shift blame to another boat.

So now what if they won't even admit responsibility?

 

[mrlipis]

Can anyone shed any light on this local agent anacaribe? Is this a person or some agency? It is pretty clear they have admitted to anchoring. There are enough pictures to put them at the scene of the crime. It appears this picture was taken from the Mayan Princess Resort. We need to keep the pressure on. Would like to hear from the RMP at this point and fill in some of these blanks.

 

[Roatan Marine Park]

Due to impending legal actions, the Marine Park is unable to comment on this matter at this moment in time. We are currently in contact with Anacaribe, Página de Inicio, and our co-manager BICA to compile as much information as possible regarding the incidents.

We appreciate all your concerns and will keep you informed of all happenings regarding the Mayan Queen IV and Drum Beat.

 

[RTBDiver]

good luck

 

[HJeffreyM]

This may seem like a kinda dumb question, but how do we know that the "new member" (with a join date of Nov 2006? Gee, how long does it take to no longer be a new member?) Roatan Marine Park is actually a representative of that organization at all? Is there any vetting going on here?

 

[stevenhmiller]

I believe Roatan Marine Park is a legitimate member. Take a look at his posts. He's been posting since 2006, and one of his posts back then states he is a manager of Roatan Marine Park.