Costa Maya, Q.R. — Shallow waters and a lack of markers has left several boats stranded on reefs in Costa Maya waters.
Head of the Port Captaincy in Mahahual, Marcelo Sénega Herrera, said there have been four stranded boats on reefs this year that have all required assistance in removing the vessels from the reefs and that each of them resulted in damage to the reef system.
“There are four strandings that occurred this year in the area of Cayo Lobo and in La Victoria, which are located north of Punta Herrero,” he said.
The Port Captain specified that the area of Cayo Lobos is shallow with many rocky ledges, hence the point where the greatest number of incidents are recorded.
He said that because there are recurring aggravations, they have already initiated actions to get markers in place adding that with the absence of markers, boat captains run aground because they do not know if the waters are deep or not.
He mentioned that one of the ships that became hung up on the reef near the Cayo Lobo lighthouse was a foreign crew that were traveling the area for the first time.
Sénega Herrera said that while in all cases they managed to remove the vessels, it was not possible to avoid damage to the reef system.
