Oil threat to Great Barrier Reef after ship runs aground
(AP)
Anne Barrowclough, Sydney
A Chinese coal ship stuck on Australia's Great Barrier Reef is leaking oil and in danger of breaking apart, raising fears of serious environmental damage to the world's largest coral reef.
The Shen Neng 1, carrying 65,000 tonnes of coal to China from the Australian port of Gladstone, ran aground 43 miles (70km) off the east coast of Great Keppel Island tourist resort, in north east Australia, late on Saturday. Early today it was found that the hull had been breached, increasing concerns of a major oil spill.
Aircraft flying over the ship early this morning reported that patches of oil were visible up to 2.5 miles (4 km) from the stricken ship.
Maritime Safety Queensland said that there had been no major loss from the ship's 950-tonne store of oil, but said that a fuel tank with 150 tonnes of heavy oil had been breached and that the oil spill was being treated as a "serious problem".
Captain Patrick Quirk, the MSQ general manager, said: “The continued leakage of oil is probably the best case we could expect.
"At one stage last night we thought the ship was close to breaking up. We are still very concerned about the ship.”
Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland, said that the carrier was in danger of breaking apart and a police launch was standing by to evacuate the 23-strong crew if necessary.
However, there were concerns that a salvage operation to retrieve the ship could spill more oil, which would reach the mainland coast within two days.
"We are now very worried we might see further oil discharged from this ship," Ms Bligh said. Local emergency crews were on standby to clean any oil that reached mainland beaches, she added.
It emerged today that the 755ft (230m) vessel should not have been in the area where it ran aground.
Ms Bligh said that the vessel hit the reef at full speed in a restricted zone 9 miles (15km) outside the shipping lane.
Its presence outside the shipping channel would be subject to a probing inquiry, she said.
Aircraft have been spraying chemical oil dispersant on to two small patches of oil about 2.5 miles from the ship.
The spill is within the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef but it will not be known for some days whether it is large enough to have a damaging impact on the reef.
Peter Garrett, the Environment Minister, said that it was too early to say whether there would be any lasting effect. "We don't have advice at present as to whether the oil is going to threaten any part of the ecology of the reef," he said.
"The Government is very conscious of the importance of the Great Barrier Reef environment and ensuring that impacts on its ecology are effectively managed." Conservationists said the fact that there was no legal requirement to have marine pilots on board ships in the area to guide them safely through the 1,500 mile (2,500km) reef system put it in grave danger.
Ian Herbert, the Capricorn Conservation Council spokesman, said he feared that the latest incident was a “sign of things to come".
"We are outraged that no marine pilot is required on ships between Gladstone and Cairns," he said.
It is the third potentially major oil spill off Australia's coast in a year. Last March 40 miles (60km) of Queensland's south east coast were declared a disaster area after 42 tonnes of oil spilled into the ocean from the MV Pacific Adventurer during a cyclone.
In October scientists who surveyed the effects of a damaged oil rig 125 miles (200km) off the coast of western Australia described it as an environmental disaster and compared its long-term effects to those of the Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska in 1989.
