Motorized Barge Carrying 600 Sacks of Cement to Contadora Capsizes
The ship "Punta Coco" capsized on Monday night at about 11:00 pm after having sailed from the Causeway, and spilled about 700 gallons of diesel and oil. The ship was headed to Contadora Island with 600 sacks of cement aboard but had some problems, and turned around to return, but capsized about 100 meters from the pier. The 5 sailors aboard were not injured. Erick Villarreal, operations manager of Rodolfo Perez, SA, said the incident could have been caused by waves or because the ship was carrying too much weight. The company is cleaning up the oily water to be taken to a treatment plant for disposal. Although witnesses said there was a delayed reaction by the Maritime Authority of Panama, a spokesman said that when the incident occurred their staff arrived at the scene and made a report of the event. (El Siglo)
