The Navy successfully sunk yesterday the Balaou barge that had run ashore in front of the Banco Agrícola on the Santo Domingo Malecón boulevard. The barge was damaged during Hurricane Georges in September 1998 and abandoned shortly after by the owners that refused to undertake the expensive salvage operation. President Mejia ordered that the petroleum within the tanker be removed and the ship sunk. The Navy removed an estimated 300,000 gallons in time to avert a natural disaster. News reports say that 80 men worked 24 hours a day for 15 days to carry out the operation. The ship was sunk at a considerable distance from where it ran aground to not affect transport operations in the area.
