Ecuador: Galapagos National Park mentioned the boat was used for scuba diving excursions.

Quito, Ecuador:

A scuba diving boat sank Saturday off one in every of Ecuador’s ecologically delicate Galapagos Islands however harm was minor and nobody was damage, officers mentioned.

The boat was carrying about 47 barrels of diesel gas that left a “superficial” slick, the Environment Ministry mentioned.

The sinking was first reported by the state-run oil firm Petroecuador, which didn’t specify how a lot gas might have spilled.

Galapagos National Park confirmed the sinking of the vessel known as the Albatroz and mentioned it was used for scuba diving excursions in waters of the islands, that are a protected pure heritage website.

Containment booms have been arrange across the space of the accident in an effort to regulate the spill, the corporate mentioned.

The 4 crew members on the ship are protected, it added.

The nationwide park suspended tourism actions across the metropolis of Puerto Ayora, the place its headquarters is positioned.

Located within the Pacific about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, and well-known for his or her big tortoises, the Galapagos are a protected wildlife space and residential to distinctive species of wildlife.

The archipelago was made well-known by British geologist and naturalist Charles Darwin’s observations on evolution there.

The Galapagos marine reserve, during which industrial fishing is prohibited, is the second-largest on the earth. More than 2,900 marine species have been reported throughout the archipelago, which is a Natural World Heritage Site.

In 2019, a barge carrying a small quantity of diesel sank off one other Galapagos island, San Cristobal, inflicting a small spill however harm was insignificant.

In 2001 and Ecuadoran flagged vessel carrying 240,000 gallons of gas additionally sank off San Cristobal. That spill did trigger environmental harm that harmed a number of marine species.

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