The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

A BARGE that jammed the Marsh Harbour channel for about 24 hours was refloated yesterday after crews offloaded 1,200 tons of material, disrupting freight service and reigniting calls for urgent improvements to Abaco’s main port.

Great Abaco Cays Chief Councillor Jeremy Sweeting said the grounding exposed long-standing problems at the port, including the need for the channel to be widened and re-dredged. He also said Marsh Harbour had reached the point where a pilot should be appointed to guide vessels into the port.

The barge ran aground around 1pm on Tuesday while entering the channel, according to William Weatherford, who led the effort to move it.

Mr Weatherford said four tugs initially tried to free the vessel at high tide, but failed. Crews then began offloading material, removing 1,200 tons of aggregate rock between Tuesday night and yesterday morning before the tide helped them move the barge around 2pm.

“We got her off about 2pm today and she's at the dock now,” he said.

Mr Weatherford said the barge had been stuck for roughly 24 hours. He said he was not in contact with the barge’s owners, but communicated with the person importing the aggregate rock it was carrying.

He said the barge and its captain were new to the channel, adding that vessels entering the area must be careful.

“It's a big boat too, so, everything has to go exactly right and we do this all the time with different ships,” he said.

Mr Sweeting said at least one freight vessel cancelled its weekly freight run into New Providence because the barge was stuck in the channel.

He described the condition of the Marsh Harbour port as “unconscionable”, saying nearly seven years after Hurricane Dorian, the area still lacks proper port facilities.

“Up until a couple months ago, port workers along with customs officers did not have proper restroom facilities, 7 years later,” said Mr Sweeting, the Free National Movement’s 2026 candidate for Central and South Abaco. “This is shameful and not acceptable given the untold tens of millions of dollars the government collects at that facility every year.”

The incident follows several barge groundings in Abaco in recent years.

Last November, a freight barge, the Brooklyn Bridge, drifted and ran aground on a shallow reef near Nunjack Cay in North Abaco after its steel towline connected to another vessel snapped.

In September 2025, a sand barge, the Inagua Sea, drifted near reef systems off Leisure Lee and Treasure Cay before a high-powered tugboat removed it.

A heavily loaded commercial supply barge and tug also ran aground in Fowl Cays National Park, sparking a $5m legal battle and causing significant long-term damage to endangered coral.