12 rescued as cargo ship runs aground near St Thomas, USVI

The US Coast Guard says all 12 persons aboard the vessel were rescued, and no injuries were reported.

A statement says the Bonnie G is reported to have approximately 13,000 gallons of fuel and approximately 700 gallons of lube oil onboard.

Additionally, the vessel was carrying six cars, a bucket truck, a semi-truck rig, a trailer and container, two forklifts, a general-purpose lift as well as two pallets of cargo.

The Coast Guard has since established an Incident Command at Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment St Thomas and at Coast Guards Base San Juan, Thursday, to oversee vessel grounding response efforts in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Following an aerial assessment of the grounding site with embarked Coast Guard pollution response personnel on Wednesday afternoon, and a surface assessment by a Coast Guard Boat Forces Detachment St Thomas on Thursday morning, the Bonnie G appears to be stable, and no signs of oil pollution were visible in the water.

Coast Guard responders will continue to monitor the situation.

Additional response efforts planned for Thursday include Playland Marine personnel conducting further assessments, including depth soundings of the grounding site, and identifying risk and safety measures that may need to be put in place.

A preliminary staging area has been identified and plans are underway for a dive team to conduct an underwater assessment to evaluate the sub-surface area surrounding the vessel and identify any damage to the vessel’s hull.

Trained responders are being activated as needed, while the Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.