Minister of the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett yesterday said the oil spill that occurred on Sunday morning in waters off Grand Bahama was caused by an overflow of diesel fuel when a ship was being refueled.
Dorsett said 210 gallons of diesel oil ultimately spilled into the surrounding water.
However, according to Captain Ray Darville of Overseas Marine Group, who helped clean up the spill, thousands of gallons of oil spilled into the surrounding harbor and coast.
It was the second spill on Grand Bahama since last December.
Dorsett, as well as the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, sent out a statement on the spill that occurred off the Bahamas Oil Refining Company (BORCO) site in Freeport Harbour.
"The Ministry of Environment and Housing was informed of an oil spill in Freeport Harbour due to an incident involving an overflow of light diesel from the bunker barge Smit Inesita to the MT Butterfly just before sunrise," Dorsett said.
"The ministry is informed that once the overflow was noticed, the MT Butterfly shut down the operation a half hour into the operation."
He said that BORCO conducted a walkabout of the impacted area with the Port Department adding that an investigation into the cause of the spill is ongoing.
The Ministry of Transport and Aviation's statement said the spill occurred at approximately 5:06 a.m. on Sunday when the Butterfly was moored at BORCO.
"The ship's oil spill plan was activated and the governmental authorities were subsequently notified," the statement read.
"Anti-pollution equipment, materials and kits, such as containment booms, absorbing pads, rolls, sawdust, absorbing mats and wilding pumps were deployed in response to the oil being discharged in the marine environment.
"Assistance was also rendered by BORCO and STATOIL providing additional containment booms and other anti-pollution equipment, and materials, and kits."
An aerial inspection of the area was done by the Port Department and small pockets of diesel were reportedly discovered.
The statement noted that clean up of the area was ongoing.
"The Ministry of Transport and Aviation has launched a complete investigation into this incident to ascertain all the facts," the statement read.
"All ships documentation and procedures will be reviewed to ascertain the volume of oil discharged and to determine the root cause of the incident. If found to be appropriate in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act, sanctions will follow."
The ministry noted that the government remains ready to deal with future oil spills.
"The protection of the marine environment is crucial to the growth and development of The Bahamas," said the statement.
"The Ministry of Transport and Aviation advises all marine operations to ensure that due diligence is being exercised in all facets of their operations and to ensure that safety is never compromised.
"The pollution of the marine environment will absolutely not be tolerated and where violations are found penalties will be imposed."
A tier 1 oil spill occurred off the coast of Grand Bahama last December, after a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) container vessel reported a "slow leak".
That spill covered about 12 miles off the coast.
Shortly after that spill, an estimated 70,000 gallons of fuel spilled into the ground from a Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) fuel storage facility at Rock Sound, Eleuthera.
BEC Chairman Leslie Miller said officials suspect that an unknown thief had been siphoning thousands of gallons of fuel from the storage facility for some time.

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