Solo Creed arrested, Energy Ministry to take necessary steps to recover $$ millions

A DAY after Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced tugboat Solo Creed had been arrested in Angola in his wrap-up speech in the Senate budget debate on October 23, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries says it will try to recover the $244 million in claims for damages to Tobago.

The Senate passed the 2024-2025 budget on its third day of debate after its previous passage in the House of Representatives.

On February 7, the tugboat was towing the barge Gulfstream when the latter reportedly overturned on a reef and then began to leak bunker oil in the waters off Cove, Tobago.

The oil contaminated part of Tobago’s coast and also reportedly reached Grenada and Bonaire, spilling 51,000 barrels of oil, with the Government allocating $50 million towards clean-up out of $134 million sought by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

On October 23, Imbert said, “On Friday last (October 18), through the Attorney General’s Office, Trinidad and Tobago arrested the tug, the Solo Creed, in Angola, which was the abandoned barge (sic) off Tobago that caused so much damage in Tobago.

"That is performance! PNM style. We tracked down that barge and we arrested it!"

A statement from the ministry on October 24 said the arrest proceedings were filed in Angola after a "relentless pursuit" of the Solo Creed by the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs with the assistance and support of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and the Maritime Division of the Ministry of Works and Transport.

"The government will continue to pursue all legal proceedings in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere to ensure that the rights and interests of the people are protected and vindicated."

The statement said the ministry will take the necessary steps to hold the owners and person interested in the vessel accountable for the damages caused in Tobago.