U.S. Coast Guard Takes Over Cleanup of $3M Yacht

A 74-foot sailing yacht has gone hard aground on a reef off the coast of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Coast Guard has taken control of the response in order to prevent pollution. 

At about 1950 hours on July 21, the catamaran sailing yacht Obsession went hard aground on a reef off Flamenco Beach, a long stretch of white sand on Culebra Island. The crew made a distress call over VHF and alerted the crew that they were taking on water. Air Station Borinquen dispatched a SAR helicopter to deliver two dewatering pumps to help them keep afloat. 

The crew found that one of the catamaran's pontoons had been ruptured in the grounding, and there was no straightforward way for them to refloat their own vessel. Luckily, the yacht's fuel tanks remained intact, and no signs of pollution have been reported.  

The yacht went aground with about 800-1,500 gallons of diesel on board, plus lubricating oil for the engine. Flamenco Beach is a well-known destination and attracts tourists from around the world, and the Coast Guard described the potential risk of pollution as "substantial." 

The owner tried to bring in a commercial salvor to recover the vessel, but was unsuccessful. He told the Coast Guard that the salvage project would require "efforts which exceeded his capacity."

Given the circumstances of the vessel and its location, the Coast Guard federalized the response effort, tapped the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for financing, and set up a unified command to manage the operation. The command includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA and Puerto Rico's Department of Natural Resources.   

Courtesy USCG

The Coast Guard has brought in Resolve Marine as the pollution prevention contractor, and Resolve has subcontracted the project to the industrial environmental services corporation Clean Harbors. 

From the photos provided, the vessel can be identified as the Sunreef 74 Obsession, a 2015-built luxury catamaran sailing yacht with modern amenities. It was up for sale as recently as 2022 for an asking price of $3 million.