A Peruvian Navy ship carrying tonnes of fuel was temporarily stranded in the Galapagos Islands, prompting the ecological gem's warden Ecuador to launch an investigation, officials said Monday.
The vessel "did not have the relevant permission to enter with the fuel," Ecuadorian Navy official Jaime Ayala said in a statement.
Ecuadorian authorities will determine in their probe whether sanctions will be deemed necessary for those responsible for the breach.
Ecuador banned vessels holding fuel after an oil tanker grounding in 2001 resulted in ecological disaster for the unique islands, which lie in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of mainland Ecuador.
According to television channel Ecuavisa, the Peruvian boat was eventually towed past the islands and continued on its journey after undergoing maintainence.
In 2001 the oil tanker Jessica ran aground off San Cristobal, the most eastern of the islands. Before the breach was discovered, 600 tonnes of spilled oil covering more than 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of ocean drifted northwards, away from the islands.
The volcanic islands that rose from the Pacific seabed 10 million years ago were first made famous when pioneering biologist Charles Darwin conducted research there in 1835 leading him to develop his theory of evolution.
Some 10,000 people, mostly fishermen, live on the archipelago. The islands' best-known residents are its giant tortoises, almost all of which live on Isabela Island, west of San Cristobal.
Blower dolphins, tropical fish, penguins, red crabs, albatross, wingless cormorants and marine iguanas are among other species found on the islands, named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.
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