Gulfstream
On 7 February, a vessel under an unidentified flag capsized and became lodged on a coral reef, at a depth of around 10 m, off the south-west coast of Tobago.
On 8 February, a press release from the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) stated that no emergency calls had been emitted by the 100 m-long vessel. No crew members were found on board the ship, which was reported to have been carrying sand and wood, but oil was released into the Caribbean Sea.
On 11 February, faced with the extent of the oil spill, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago declared a national state of emergency.
From 9 February, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard deployed booms to contain the oil slick and protect the coastline (near Sandy Point Beach, the Petit Trou lagoon (Lambeau), the Cove eco-industrial business park and the port of Scarborough). Some 1,000 volunteers joined government staff to help clean up the oiled coastline, where oiled sargassum seaweed complicated manual collection operations.
On 26 February, oil was found 830 kilometres from the site of the incident, on certain parts of the eastern shores of the island of Bonaire (in particular Sorobon, Lac and Lagun). According to a statement issued by the local government, this spill posed a "serious threat" to local ecosystems, particularly mangroves, fish and coral. Military personnel were deployed along the coast to assist with clean-up operations.
By 28 February, at least 1.6 million litres of oil mixed with water had been recovered from around the wreck. Following an investigation, the vessel was finally identified by divers, thanks to an inscription on the hull, as the Gulfstream, a 48-year-old unpowered double-hulled barge believed to have been towed by the Solo Creed (Tanzanian registered). Its journey was traced. The convoy, carrying some 35,000 barrels of heavy fuel oil (bunker C), is believed to have left Panama bound for Guyana Power and Light (Guyana) on 30 December 2023. Satellite images revealed an oil slick in the wake of the Gulfstream on 3 February, immediately after it left Pozuelos Bay in Venezuela. The Gulfstream was apparently left to its fate by the tug Solo Creed on the morning of 6 February.
The oil leak stopped on 7 March, as the leaking compartments were under water, preventing the oil from escaping from the wreck.
Two specialised companies were contracted by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to clean up and restore the oiled sites, as well as to remove and dismantle the wreck.
On 4 March, the Trinidad and Tobago government assessed potential compensation. Financial aid was awarded by CAF –development bank of Latin America to help mitigate the impacts of the spill. Given the unusual status of the wreck (an unpowered barge), it is not possible at the time of writing to determine whether the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 IOPC Fund Convention will apply to this incident.