【2010.4.4 澳大利亚ABC】Ship leaking oil 'way off course'

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/04/2863762.htm


Updated 2 hours 3 minutes ago

Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng One ran aground on Douglas Shoal (Maritime Safety Queensland)
Related Story: Chinese coal ship runs aground off Queensland

Authorities say a ship leaking oil that ran aground off central Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef should not have been in the area.

The Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng One ran aground on Douglas Shoal about 120 kilometres east of Rockhampton late yesterday.

The ship had departed from the Port of Gladstone and was bound for China.

Early this morning authorities found the hull had been breached and an attempt to refloat the ship was abandoned.

At first light planes flew over the area to assess the extent of the slick and found the oil as far as two nautical miles south-east of the grounding.

Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) general manager Patrick Quirk says the ship was off course.

"The vessel is a long way from where it should have been," he said.

Premier Anna Bligh says a relatively small amount of oil has been discharged.

"However, this is the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park I'm concerned about," she said.

Tank breached


The ship has more than 900 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board, and MSQ says a fuel tank with 150 tonnes of heavy oil has been breached.

MSQ says it is not a major oil leak.

"There was indications of oil in the water from about 2:00am this morning," general manager Patrick Quirk said.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says it is too early to say whether there will be any lasting effect on the Great Barrier Reef.

"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.

"That's why we want to use a dispersant quickly by trialing to assess its effectiveness. Once we've evaluated its effectiveness, then it might be available for further use."

Mr Garrett says the dispersants have been used safely before.

"This dispersant's been used in the past, it's been used without lasting impacts on the environment, and that's the whole of the environment," he said.

"My expectation is that we'll use it carefully in this instance. Obviously protecting the environment is the number one priority."

The spill is within the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef but it is not yet known whether it is large enough to impact the reef.

The Greens' lead Senate candidate in Queensland Larissa Waters say the ship's spill could cause a similar environmental impact to one in Moreton Bay last year.

"As we saw in the Moreton Bay spill, which was initially small, but mushroomed out to a massive catastrophe, it's looking more and more like we might have a repeat of this just off Great Keppel Island, which is a pristine area," she said.

"There's huge threats to wildlife here, oil is really bad news as everybody knows for marine life and for corals."