Meeting this week on what's next for a stranded cargo ship in Lark Harbour

MHA Eddie Joyce says he brought the issue to the House of Assembly last week. He says 4 kms of land has been approved to construct a road to lead to the site. 

It’s been nearly two weeks since several tar balls were found on a beach near the grounded cargo ship in Lark Harbour. The ship, which is carrying over a million tonnes of fuel, lost power on February 15th and ran aground in an area known as Cedar Cove. MHA Eddie Joyce says he brought the issue to the House of Assembly last week. He says 4 kms of land has been approved to construct a road to lead to the site. 

Since the middle of February, high winds and sea conditions have hampered daily efforts to be able to get a barge next to the vessel to offload the fuel.  Joyce says there’s a meeting taking place this week with the salvage team and Coast Guard officials. He says the Premier committed to offering full support and he has been in contact with the Coast Guard about it. 

Joyce says the hope is to get this road constructed as quickly as possible before there’s an environmental disaster. He says no doubt the polluter pays, but this could ruin the livelihood for the many fishers, plant workers and tourism businesses throughout the Bay of Islands. 

Meanwhile, the tar balls which were found on the beach April 11th, are the size of tennis balls and the Coast Guard has sent them for analysis to determine where exactly they came from.