By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN excavator submerged in Exuma waters since last year caused a boat accident this week, sparking fears among residents as a regatta festival nears.

Clayton Smith, the island’s deputy chief councillor, said yesterday: “The problem is this is a busy weekend in Long Island, and there are dozens and dozens of boats travelling between Great Exuma and Long Island, and the biggest fear is that someone’s going to run into that thing before this weekend is out and this time it may be fatal.”

He said the owners have taken little action to remove the excavator, adding: “It fell into the water since late last year. He was supposed to move it, but never did and we’ve been communicating with him ever since. He’s made numerous promises to move, but has not moved it.”

 Mr Smith said the excavator is stuck in an area frequented by boat captains heading to Long Island.

 “We have people who move in the morning and come back in the evening,” he said. “So people are travelling back and forth in that area at dark, and we’re trying to avoid something extremely serious.” 

 Captain Alistino Smith said he and his family were enroute to Long Island from Hog Cay on Sunday when they struck the object during high tide.

 He said no one was injured, but his engine was damaged. 

 “I had two of my kids and then my mummy and my aunt,” he told The Tribune. “They didn’t have any buoy on it, so you couldn’t see where the excavator was exactly, and I ended up running over it, damaging my engine. At low tide it does be out of the water and at high tide, it does be underneath.”

 Acting port controller Lieutenant Commander Berne Wright confirmed that the port was aware of the submerged machinery and had contacted the machine’s owner.

“The excavator was properly marked, but I am advised that in the last weather condition, the buoy that was on it came off,” he said. “It was re-marked yesterday. The intent by the owner is to go with some stuff shipped in tomorrow to properly mark it with light and weather reflector material, etc.”

 Commander Wright said removing the machine is not straightforward. 

 “To remove that is not so simple as calling one of your boys to get a truck and get it removed,” he said. “It requires a particular crane that, to my understanding, is not readily available in the country, so the owner is trying to source a crane that is capable of moving the excavator.”

 He could not give a timeline for moving the equipment, but said officials want it done “as quickly as possible”.