An elderly cargo ship has gone aground on a reef off Belize.
The 4,500-dwt Herca-1 (built 1999) got stuck on Sunday in the Turneffe Atoll, eight miles east of Belize City.
The Panama-flag vessel, which is 98 metres long, suffered mechanical failure, according to the Belize Port Authority (BPA).
The vessel was transiting Belizean waters en route to Port Everglades in the US from its last port call in Puerto Cortes.
The Herca-1 is carrying containers and break-bulk cargo.
The vessel remained aground on Monday but the latest AIS data shows it as “stopped” off Belize City.
Salvage operations were launched by the department of environment, the BPA and the coast guard.
The cargoship has been detained pending an investigation into the grounding incident, environmental impacts and damage assessment.
No threat of pollution was reported, but a damage assessment to the marine environment was ongoing.
The 13 crew members have been cooperating with the authorities, the BPA said.
The flag state has been informed.
Detained in November with cracked hull
The ship is operated by HLSC Panama of Honduras, which could not be contacted.
The Herca-1 was detained in Belfast, UK, in November for 13 days after failing a port state control safety check.
Inspectors found 13 deficiencies.
Grounds for detention were problems with the ship's certificates and a cracked hull, deemed to be impairing its seaworthiness.
This was the Herca-1’s first listed detention in 23 years.
