“Drummond regrets the occurrence of this industrial accident but that is exactly what it was, an industrial accident with no intent to harm the environment but conversely actions were taken to minimize damage to the environment,” a company statement said.

“Despite the most careful attention to detail and planning to avoid this type of incident, industrial accidents do occur.”

The findings do not identify the cause of the accident but instead detail the company’s actions prior to the accident and its emergency response following the incident.

Drummond states that Barge 115 was loaded with 2957 tonnes of coal on the afternoon of January 12. The barge completed various unloading and reloading operations overnight without incident before being secured at Buoy 23 by 1am on January 13.

Bad weather prevailed overnight with waves between 3-3.5m and winds of 15-20 knots but inspections during the night did not reveal any problems.

Just after sunrise, the entering shift supervisor observed that the barge was “down on the stern end, semi-submerged, and in an emergency situation”

Attempts were made to right the barge, during which bucketfuls of water mixed with coal were emptied from the barge into the sea.

By 10am the barge showed signs of sinking further and was moved to shallow water. By 2pm the barge was completely refloated and moored at Buoy1 for further inspection.

On January 15, about 1600t of coal and water were removed from the barge and transferred to Barge 114. Barge 115 still remains behind the pier and contains about 150t of coal.

The Colombian National Environmental Licensing Authority has halted operations at the port.

Drummond has presented a contingency plan to the government in an attempt to restart operations. The results of the government’s assessment of that plan are expected to be released this week.