The Regional Secretary for Transport and Public Works praised the action of the crew of "Mestre Simão” and all those involved in the evacuation of passengers who were on board the vessel at the time of the accident.
 
Ana Cunha stressed that the safety of people is always the "main concern." In this regard, she praised "the fact there were no casualties and that the evacuation process took place in a fast and safe way," congratulating all people who were involved in this process."
 
Now, "we must mitigate any fuel spillage" and monitor the situation of the vessel in the next few hours, "until the rescue and fuel transfer operations are defined," emphasised the Regional Secretary.
 
The Secretary for Transport pointed out that the maritime links are assured, adding that "the routes are being carried out" by the vessels "Cruzeiro do Canal" and "Cruzeiro das Ilhas."
 
"These vessels will the maintain the sane schedules was well as the same routes. Obviously, we have the constraints arising from this accident and the fact that the vessel "Gilberto Mariano" is currently in dry dock for certification.
 
Despite these constraints, Ana Cunha stated that "Atlânticoline has managed to resume the routes and, in this contex, both vessels are expected to maintain the same schedules."
 
Moreover, Ana Cunha stated that the Government of the Azores is monitoring the situation "in conjunction with the Azores Maritime Zone Command, the Captain of Horta Port, Regional Port Authorities, which has deployed means, and with Atlânticoline, the owner of the vessel." It is now expected that "we will have the conditions for reaching the interior of the vessel in order to assess the extent of the damages and the situation of the fuel inside it."
 
According to the Regional Secretary, the possibility of fuel spillage "is what needs to be mitigated, without detriment to all other procedures that are under way."
 
In this context, several measures have been taken, including the placement of protective sleeves and the delimitation of the area where fuel spillage might occur." Currently, there are ongoing "procedures for the definition and evaluation of the situation so that we may take further steps and understand what really happened," said Ana Cunha.