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The Coast Guard is keeping watch on an effort to refloat a large yacht that went aground over the holidays off Culebra, Puerto Rico. <\/p>\n
At about 1030 hours on December 30, watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a report from a Coast Guard boat unit reporting that an 80-foot yacht – the Runaway <\/em>– had run hard aground on a reef near Ensenada Honda, a large bay on the island's south side. The vessel was taking on water, and there were four people and two dogs aboard. <\/p>\n A Coast Guard response boat arrived on scene and provided the skipper with a dewatering pump to attempt to control flooding aboard the yacht. While two of the yacht's crew remained with their vessel to coordinate salvage efforts, the Coast Guard boat crew transported two passengers to safety in St. Thomas, USVI. <\/p>\n As of Friday, the owner has completed the removal of about 160 gallons of fuel and lubricant. The fuel was donated to a local fishing village in Culebra, according to the Coast Guard. <\/p>\n "Now that the bulk of petroleum products on board this vessel has been successfully removed, the priority is to have the vessel removed from the reef as soon as it is safely possible," said Lt. Cmdr. Ray Lopez, Coast Guard Sector San Juan Chief of Incident Management.<\/p>\n