Isla Mujeres — the laid-back island just off Cancún that most visitors reach on a 20-minute ferry hop — woke up to an ugly sight this Sunday. A decommissioned ferry moored at the island's cargo dock partially went under, and fuel leaking from the vessel spread a visible hydrocarbon slick across the bay.
The vessel involved is the Sergio Gracia Aguilar, an old ferry that stopped running back in 2018 and had been sitting idle at the Apiqroo (Quintana Roo Integral Port Administration) dock for years. Early Sunday morning its stern sank, leaving the ship half-submerged at an angle. That tilt was enough to send fuel seeping out into the water, and the slick spread quickly. Local resident Reggis Ravell filmed the stain stretching across the bay, giving a clear sense of how far it reached.
Response crews threw containment barriers around the area, but by then the oil had already drifted. Isla Mujeres City Hall says its Civil Protection and Fire Services joined the effort early Sunday, though it stressed that handling incidents like this is the job of federal maritime authorities — specifically the Secretariat of the Navy and the Port Captaincy, who are leading the operation. Municipal staff are supporting them as needed.
What stands out is the silence elsewhere: as of the report, no other authority had publicly acknowledged the sinking or the slick. That matters in a place where the bay is not just scenery. Isla Mujeres' waterfront is where tour boats, snorkelling trips and the passenger ferries to Cancún all operate, and beaches like Playa Norte — regularly ranked among the best in the Caribbean — depend on clean water. Even a contained spill can temporarily affect swimming conditions, boat routes and fishing areas, so visitors with trips booked to the island should keep an eye on local updates and any advisories from the Port Captaincy before heading out.
The bigger question for travellers is what happens to the wreck itself. A rotting, half-sunk ferry at a working cargo dock is a poor look for one of Mexico's most-visited island destinations, and clean-up operations could mean temporary closures or rerouted boat traffic in parts of the bay. If your holiday plans include Isla Mujeres in the coming weeks, expect some activity around the docks and check with your hotel or tour operator that swimming and snorkelling spots you're planning to visit are unaffected.
For now, the Navy and Port Captaincy are managing the incident, the slick is being monitored, and the island's day-to-day tourism continues — just with a messier harbour than usual.
Original reporting: Riviera Maya News.
