New Artifical Reef off Gladstone.

[bundylundy]

Seems we now have a new artifical reef off Gladstone instead off the reef that was already there. A Chinese coal tanker has run aground on Douglas Shoals and is leaking fuel oil after being holed when it ran into the reef. >:( A fully laden tanker draws over 13m but it is only 10m on the shoals. The question is, what the hell was the taker doing there, who the hell was driving the boat and what is the govenment doing about the oil spill. I just hope they have a better response than the last oil spill in the area. You would think that a boat of this size would know where the channel was.

Jeff.

[gr hilly]

the captain was not tall enough to see over the dash.
hilly

[MickS]

Reports say the boat was doing full speed 15 nm outside the shipping channels.

Good chance this boat will break apart. I hope not, it will be a disaster if it does.

[chris69]

You would have thought that it would of had a aussie pilot on board and im trying to work out weither it was going north or south i would think that it would have gotten coal from glasdstone and heading north what ever the case its going to be a big headack for everyone concerned as north reef and tyron and northwest reefs would be in the line of the slick with the way the currents move up that way,if they have not started airial spraying of disppersances by now there way behind the 8ball as its about the roughest area on the east coast and they will find it hard to contain the spill close to the ship,it might be time for all ships to carry disppersance onboard to travell inside the reefs on the eastcoast or any were actually so they can act immediatly in these sittuations.

[bluefin59]

Just saw on the news the portside is ripped open and fuel oiil leaking every where and thet are predicting it will break up , some big answers are going to be needed here i feel for you guys up there this looks a lot worse than our oil spill downhere ....... Matt

[trymyluck]

That far out I would think it unlikely to have a pilot on board. Lucky we have such a competent government, there would have been a well rehearsed response plan put into action????:-/:-X>:( Whoever was in charge of that ship needs to go to jail, 5pm and should have been good visability. Does not leave them any excuses to me.


Maybe they wanted a couple of reef fish for dinner.

[Bros]

Probably in a hurry to get home and cut the corner to the Capricorn Channel. They would not be required to have a pilot on board.

[Jabiru658]

China don't like the way Australian businesses do business in china (and have put our people in jail)... looks like it's time to return the favour >:(

There is no excuse for this incident.

[NQ-FISH]

Another great idea from goverment dont need a pilot out of hay point,gladstone or abbot point, until they reach cairns if heading north which the boat was. Another cost saving from the gov.

[trymyluck]

Looks like they will be lucky to get it off at all, let alone in 1 piece, not looking good. Just lucky I guess that the seas are dropping.


Mark

[apconcen]

calm down guys, accidents happen at sea even by Australians. I can assure you the captain WHETHER he is Chinese or not.. will not go to jail

[davez104]

Maybe he won't, but he should. In this day and age, this sort of incident is unacceptable.

Dave.

[trymyluck]

Calm down????? Who's not calm????? The fishing community is under constant pressure from greens and political parties to maintain the right to fish. Yet this incident will do more damage then fishing could hope to do in 10 years.

Didn't say he would, just that whoever is responsible needs to and should be held accountable. In this day and age there is no excuse for this type of ship to be so far off course, so close to land while still daylight and run aground. They should have been able to see the reef plain as day. Even my basic chartplotter has a off course alarm.

Mark

Just when should we start to get upset??

[trymyluck]

We can be thankful it is a coal ship and not a oil tanker.

[Jabiru658]

calm down guys, accidents happen at sea even by Australians.

An accident? That's something that happens outside the reasonable control of the people involved, like getting hit by lightning or having a meteor land on your house.

This is an incident... that's where the people involved could have avoided it (and didn't).

[Bros]

calm down guys, accidents happen at sea even by Australians. I can assure you the captain WHETHER he is Chinese or not.. will not go to jail

If he is Chinese I don't like his future when he gets home.

[Bros]

Another great idea from goverment dont need a pilot out of hay point,gladstone or abbot point, until they reach cairns if heading north which the boat was. Another cost saving from the gov.

Not quite right.

http://www.torrespilots.com.au/compPilotage.html

[Ausfish]

Not looking good, doubt if it will be removed. Maybe get the fuel off it if they are lucky.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/-/watch/18972742

[Bros]

Not looking good, doubt if it will be removed. Maybe get the fuel off it if they are lucky.

I said that about the Pasha Bulker so I not putting my neck out again but re-floating will be difficult, one thing they have in there favour is it ran aground at near low tide.

[RayDeR]

I heard on the ABC news someone saying its not a bad spill and its lighter oil than was dropped onto Moreton Beach... That was only a minor incident at first, too.

They are also saying that it took two hours to contact the authorities... Bloody marvelous that..it only took two hours. Particularly on a holiday weekend. I thought it would have taken several days to get through all the press 1 if you want etc and then find someone who answered the phone. Or don't the call centres in India observe Easter holidays?

[mangomick]

And thats why its always an adventure to anchor up for an overnighter any where out from Gladstone.:D

[Hornblower]

After the last "minor" spill which occurred, the State Govt commissioned some dufus academic to do a report to say that 2 stroke outboards do more damage each year then the Pacific Adventurer spill (If I got the name right). You never know know, they might get some other dufus to do a report on fishermen passing wind depleting the ozone which in turn contributes to coral bleaching as a smoke screen.

Seriously though, there was a distinct lack of Govt response on the news. They had some poor bloody incident controller on the telly looking like a roo caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. I hope they have their act together on this and have learnt from their mistakes of last time. This is one instance I hope they can do a bloody good job and get this mess sorted to minimise the damage.

Cheers,

Horny

[Aunty Jack]

Did I hear right on the TV that the tanker was 15 n miles outside the shipping lanes.
The captain could get up to a $250,000 fine and the shipping company up to a $1,000,000. fine.
Surely that wouldn't even cover the clean up.
It's my belief that the shipping company and the skipper should be banned till all costs of damages are made.
Not like what happend morton bay.
Have the insures paid yet NO.
Or am I misinformed.
YOU BREAK IT YOU PAY FOR IT.!!
Or will we get screwed over again??

[bugman]

That is one of my favourite fishing destinations on the Qld coast.

We fish there every trip out to North West Island. 'This year we had our best soft plastic fishing experience ever right on top of the shoals early one morning. We then brained the spanish and wahoo also right on top of the shoal.

Then there's the red fishing just off the ledge.

Maybe the shoals will be all ledge now. I wonder how close to our marks he got. If he hit anywhere near the 10 -13m mark he would be sitting right on top of one of our favourite spots:'(

Breaks my heart

Brett

[Lucky_Phill]

I was " out bush " all Easter and just saw this on the news today.

Capt Bligh eluding to " throw the book at them "... skipper and company. Well she had better back her words up.

Further, report said the " report into the disaster " could be done in a month. ?

Whya month ????, heli an investigator onto ship NOW, ask the capt his story and then put him in chopper straight to Boggo Road.... oh, that's closed.... damn. Well straight to Sth Brissie lockup.. or better still, drop him at NEWBY's place for " an evening of fun and frivolity "........8-)

It appears a 3 mtr deep couple of hundred mtr long ' trench ' has been gouged out of the shoals. The next high tides are not for quite a while to attempt the salvage.

After hitting reef, authorities were not advised of situation for a " couple of hours ". If this is true, then it is quite clear the skipper had tried to remove the ship from the reef without notifying the proper authorities thereby " leaving the scene of the crime ". This action alone tells me the skipper took the course by choice and not by accident.>:(

Well, Brett, I hear ya about this and as you know, that area was on my " radar " .... ;)

I will make inquiries with ' people in the know and right places " over the next few days and try to get a handle on " what's doin ! ".

The reef, its inhabitants, the surrounding environments and the coastal community and business's will feel the effects of this. Not Happy Jan.

LP.
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[Ally Jack]

Ship's captain takes a shortcut and rips through a great fishing area what a champion effort

I know they have tracking systems up north and coulda, shoulda had one here in CQ as well, ok fair enough BUT they'd better get one in now

Ally Jack

[FNQCairns]

One bloke said the prop hit hard and dragged the engine backwards from it's mounts, ripping the outer hull and flooding the engine bay....did anyone die or maimed?

Looks ATM to be a relatively minor event of potentially larger proportions...what's the bet the reports of it braking up are so far exaggerated as is the position of the stored bunker oil relative to the gash.

Given a lack of storm force winds what's the bet this tanker will end up in a port nearby as salvage.

cheers fnq

[PinHead]

China don't like the way Australian businesses do business in china (and have put our people in jail)... looks like it's time to return the favour >:(

There is no excuse for this incident.

You are right..there is no excuse. There is no excuse why any ship is permitted through the GBRMP without a pilot and tracking by our Port Authorities..the only blame can lay with our Govt for not having sufficient items in place to prevent this happening. The Minister concerned should resign immediately. All this talk from the Govt re protecting the reef is nothing but hot air when they allow this to happen.

[Owen]

Call me a cynic, but no heads will roll over this and bugger all that would increase shipping costs is likely to come of it.
Gladstone and the state government won't bite the hand that feeds them. They'll duck & weave and pass the buck as usual. And if that fails, they'll have an enquiry and do a report. Seen it all before.
The air is clean, the oil spill in the harbour was a "minor environmental issue" etc etc etc
Must be true, coz the guvmint said so!

Can't wait for all the LNG ships to start rolling in :(

Reckon I'll be sleeping a little lighter on my next overnighter at Douglas though!

[Lucky_Phill]

Coal carrier oil spill dispersed - Qld govt

April 6, 2010 - 7:48AM
Be the first to comment (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/coal-carrier-oil-spill-dispersed--qld-govt-20100406-rnh5.html#comments)
Vote (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/coal-carrier-oil-spill-dispersed--qld-govt-20100406-rnh5.html#poll) http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288968/shenneng0504b-600x400.jpg Click for more photos (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=0) The Chinese bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1 lies stranded and leaking oil on the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Maritime Safety Queensland
http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288968/shenneng0504b-80x80.jpg (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=0)
http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288970/shenneng0504c-80x80.jpg (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=1)
http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288967/shenneng0504d-80x80.jpg (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=2)
http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288971/shenneng0504e-80x80.jpg (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=3)
http://images.brisbanetimes.com.au/2010/04/05/1288972/shenneng0504g-80x80.jpg (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/environment/coal-ship-leaks-oil-on-great-barrier-reef/20100405-rmkt.html?selectedImage=4) Oil that leaked from a stricken coal carrier off Rockhampton has been dispersed, the Queensland government says.
Three to four tonnes of heavy fuel oil spilled from the Shen Neng 1 on Saturday after it hit a shoal inside a restricted zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Transport department spokesman Mark Strong says dispersant sprayed onto the slick has worked, and the oil has broken up.
"The slick that was there has responded to the treatment and there have been no further additional spills," Mr Strong said this morning.
Authorities plan to have a floating boom around the Shen Neng 1 sometime on Tuesday to contain any further leaks.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will on Tuesday fly over the stricken ship, which is stuck on Douglas Shoal 70km east of Great Keppel Island.
Tug boats are being used to stabilise the ship which is continuing to grind against the shoal.
Authorities no longer believe it's at serious risk of breaking up but say that could change if the weather worsens.
The 230-metre Shen Neng 1 was en route from Gladstone to China when it ran aground, almost 30km from the shipping channels it should have been using.
Federal authorities have launched an investigation, including into reports the ship may have been taking a shortcut out of Australian waters.
Salvors are aboard the ship, planning how to refloat it, but say the process could take weeks.
AAP

Report courtesy of Brisbane Times Online.

LP.
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[Bros]

Just looking at one report that all the white stuff is ground up coral, seems like it is taking a few metres off the top of Douglas shoal.

[davez104]

The damage done by the actual grounding will be minimal. The coral will regrow soon enough. The damage done by the chemicals leaking from the ship and those being sprayed from the air may take a bit longer to become apparent. Corals tend to bleach under stress, this could be caused by many different things, but the oils/other chemicals may be enough to cause a large section to bleach, then die. Then again, we might be lucky, it might all disperse without doing too much harm at all, corals are tougher than many give them credit for.

Dave.

[STUIE63]

Just looking at one report that all the white stuff is ground up coral, seems like it is taking a few metres off the top of Douglas shoal.
gees the media are a joke they have no frigging idea
Stuie

[Bros]

A bit of grist for the mill.

A unconfirmed story.

The first mate was also the loading officer and he was on the bridge at the time after having only had 1 hr sleep in the previous 24.

The course for the vessel was a track from the Fairway bouy to Douglas shoal and they were to turn 5 nm before the waypoint and then it is clear sailing past North Reef out to sea. I originally thought they cut the corner but doesn't appear to be so.

We will just have to wait and see what the inquiry says.

[banksmister]

I’m thinking about kicking a few bricks of the top off the Great Wall of China
[Another one of the 7 great wonders of the world] Do you think I would come home alive and upright?
P#ss poor management Kebbin & CO

[bundylundy]

Skipper says it was a minor event and repairs underway as reported to his consulate. Minor event, pig's bum I say. Minor event is leaving the bungs out of the tender, major event is driving a boat loaded with 65000 tonnes of coal and 900 tonnes of fuel oil up onto a reef. The other thing that alarms me is that a boom to put around the ship to control fuel oil spill had to come from Cairns. Should be here toomoorow. What the? There should be equipment to do this at every major port. Not 3 days away. Luckily the feul oil spill is small at the moment(better if there was none) compared to what it could have been. Just not good enough.

Jeff.

[NEWBY]

Oil that leaked from a stricken coal carrier off Rockhampton has been dispersed, the Queensland government says.
Three to four tonnes of heavy fuel oil spilled from the Shen Neng 1 on Saturday after it hit a shoal inside a restricted zone of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Transport department spokesman Mark Strong says dispersant sprayed onto the slick has worked, and the oil has broken up.
"The slick that was there has responded to the treatment and there have been no further additional spills," Mr Strong said this morning.
Authorities plan to have a floating boom around the Shen Neng 1 sometime on Tuesday to contain any further leaks.
[B]Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will on Tuesday fly over the stricken ship, which is stuck on Douglas Shoal 70km east of Great Keppel Island.
Tug boats are being used to stabilise the ship which is continuing to grind against the shoal.
Authorities no longer believe it's at serious risk of breaking up but say that could change if the weather worsens.
The 230-metre Shen Neng 1 was en route from Gladstone to China when it ran aground, almost 30km from the shipping channels it should have been using.
Federal authorities have launched an investigation, including into reports the ship may have been taking a shortcut out of Australian waters.
Salvors are aboard the ship, planning how to refloat it, but say the process could take weeks.
AAP

Report courtesy of Brisbane Times Online.

LP.
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Its alright, settle down, Cruddy has it in hand.....
He is going to fly over the top of it...That in turn will fix it all.

No doubt we will then form a committee headed by Garret who will request a royal commission, and that in turn will exempt the Chinese government from any and all liability due to the fact they had english charts that they couldn't read them. So they will then issue a statement that this is unacceptable and Crudd will fly to China to sort it out. AND Just like he did to the Japs and Indonesians, he will PI$$ them off no end and we will lose our biggest trading partner.
Then we will lose the big mining companies. Unemployment will hit 12%. Inflation will double and interest rates will hit late teens again like in the 80's. Just like last time the stuffed the country up.
The Greens with Garret up front will jump for joy then jump ship because there will be nothing left for them to whinge and moan about and they may just bugger off to another country to bugger someone else's lifestyle up.

On the bright side, a 3mtr channel that is 200 mtrs long could be a great fishing spot in a few years when the toxicity has diminished....
Imagine the tidal run through it???
Thanks China....

[PADDLES]

yep, they're all taking turns to fly over it and look concerned and do not much. i'm thinking that it's time for some sort of legislation that makes shipping operators have enough insurance to cover the ENTIRE! cleanup bill for things like this. no insurance certificate then no entry into our waters to load/offload.

i'm no expert on oil cleanup, but doesn't the dispersant merely sink the oil to the bottom where no-one can see it and it still does the damage anyway? surely simply cleaning the stuff up is better, although it'd be a tough task in rough seas.

newby isn't silly with his point that the last thing we need is to destroy a trade relationship with china though. as has been mentioned earlier, good spill cleanup gear in each of the major ports (brisbane/gladdy/mackay/townsville) up our east coast would make the response so much quicker.

as another side issue, does anyone know the effect of all the antifoul off that hull scraping off on live coral, it'll turn everything it touches into a desert.

[FNQCairns]

Heard this morning that the captain of the ship is more concerned with the Aussie workers eating all their food on board than with nature.

Guess this makes sense if anyone has ever had dealing with the police over damaged property/whatever, the emotion of perceived ownership/self interests is not something the captain would care much over or has a moral obligation for at the level we politicly perceive these days.

ATM it's nothing more than just another divot in a golf course...from natures point of view anyway.

cheers fnq

[davez104]

as another side issue, does anyone know the effect of all the antifoul off that hull scraping off on live coral, it'll turn everything it touches into a desert.

As far as I know, most antifouls are copper based. Copper is deadly to most marine invertebrates, so that could caused localised deaths of corals, shrimps, crabs etc etc. It's a point I hadn't thought of before.

Dave.

[PADDLES]

yeah mate, i haven't researched it in any detail but my fuzzy memory tells me that when big ships like that run aground the damage caused by the antifoul is immense, it basically kills everything it rubs/settles on.

[davez104]

Sounds likely. I keep corals and marine fish/inverts in an aquarium, it only takes small amounts of copper in the water to lay waste to everything bar the fish.

Dave.

[Chine]

yep, they're all taking turns to fly over it and look concerned and do not much. i'm thinking that it's time for some sort of legislation that makes shipping operators have enough insurance to cover the ENTIRE! cleanup bill for things like this. no insurance certificate then no entry into our waters to load/offload.

i'm no expert on oil cleanup, but doesn't the dispersant merely sink the oil to the bottom where no-one can see it and it still does the damage anyway? surely simply cleaning the stuff up is better, although it'd be a tough task in rough seas.

newby isn't silly with his point that the last thing we need is to destroy a trade relationship with china though. as has been mentioned earlier, good spill cleanup gear in each of the major ports (brisbane/gladdy/mackay/townsville) up our east coast would make the response so much quicker.

as another side issue, does anyone know the effect of all the antifoul off that hull scraping off on live coral, it'll turn everything it touches into a desert.

Paddles,

Tankers and bulk carriers are treated differently for the responsibility of paying for spill cleanup.

Both types of vessels must carry compulsory insurance although there is a limit to their liability dependant on gross tonnage.

The "Sheng Neng 1" limit is a little over $23m whereas a tanker limit can be as high as $170m.

Having said that, it needs to be remembered that every vessel visiting Australian Ports pays an Oil Pollution Levy which funds a national response plan managed by AMSA. This facilitates the strategic placement of response equipment, vessels, management teams and training. With the number of visiting vessels over a number of years, this can produce a significant fund for responding to infrequent oil spill incidents.

For example, Each time the "Sheng Neng 1" visits, her OPL is in the order of $5,600. Supposing a rough figure of 20,000 national visits per year equates to roughly $112m per year in levies received.

The other point to remember is that the "Pacific Adventurer" had a cleanup shortfall of $6m. The QLD taxpayer is to be re-imbursed the shortfall by a temporary increase in the OPL which was announced by Albanese in February.

Not a perfect system although there is a system in place.

Rgds

Chine

[PADDLES]

good info chine, i knew none of that.

does the "oil pollution levy" get banked in it's own fund or does it get chucked into general revenue and chomped up by other government "projects" and not just sitting there to pay for oil spill response?

[Chine]

good info chine, i knew none of that.

does the "oil pollution levy" get banked in it's own fund or does it get chucked into general revenue and chomped up by other government "projects" and not just sitting there to pay for oil spill response?

Paddles,

That is an excellent question and one which I cannot answer.

The pragmatist in me leans toward consolidated revenue.........

Rgds

Chine

[castlemaine]

You are right..there is no excuse. There is no excuse why any ship is permitted through the GBRMP without a pilot and tracking by our Port Authorities..the only blame can lay with our Govt for not having sufficient items in place to prevent this happening. The Minister concerned should resign immediately. All this talk from the Govt re protecting the reef is nothing but hot air when they allow this to happen.

Pinhead ... absolutely

Maybe the ship was trying to avoid a fisher fishing in a green zone with ten hooks, twenty rods, drinking copious amounts of green ginger wine, running over a turtle while dropping in a dillie, ...

Both Governments need to look at taking responsibility for allowing a ship like that going through a pristine area without a pilot escort.

Beats me!!!

[PADDLES]

the pragmatist in me thinks the same chine ::)

disagree on the pilot issue, we're not dealing with weekend warriors here, these are bulk carriers with professional crews and i would imagine very experienced captains in control. they should be well and truly able to thread their ship through a gap (that's as big as say the brisbane cbd to aspley) in a reef given the modern navigational aids they would have on board. even gps errors (assuming they're not using differential) aren't that bad.

something has obviously gone wrong and we shouldn't have to provide pilots. a powerful radar system to monitor movements however would be more suitable, it could be rigged to identify individual vessels and alarm when they stray too far from the centre of the channel, there would be technology currently available to do this. ie. air traffic control systems.

[Chine]

Pinhead ... absolutely

Maybe the ship was trying to avoid a fisher fishing in a green zone with ten hooks, twenty rods, drinking copious amounts of green ginger wine, running over a turtle while dropping in a dillie, ...

Both Governments need to look at taking responsibility for allowing a ship like that going through a pristine area without a pilot escort.

Beats me!!!

The trick now is not to fall for the kneejerk reaction.

There are two well recognised and well "trodden" inner GBRMP routes to the outer route from Gladstone ie. the Capricorn Channel and Curtis Channel.

A very comprehensive ATSB inquiry will be undertaken to determine exactly what has gone wrong. From that report, recommendations will be made. This report will be supported by onboard "black box" (VDR) outputs inclusive of all voice recorded bridge conversations. If VHF conditions where supportive on the day then there may also be AIS tracking records.

The challenge is to get 85,000 tonnes of steel, oil and coal off the Shoal in one composite unit. Remember, the ballasted "Pasha Bulker" was driven up by weather at slow speed. The loaded "Sheng Neng 1" drove up on the Shoal at full sea speed. There may be significant structural damage.

Rgds

Chine

[Bros]

disagree on the pilot issue, we're not dealing with weekend warriors here, these are bulk carriers with professional crews and i would imagine very experienced captains in control. they should be well and truly able to thread their ship through a gap (that's as big as say the brisbane cbd to aspley) in a reef given the modern navigational aids they would have on board. even gps errors (assuming they're not using differential) aren't that bad.

something has obviously gone wrong and we shouldn't have to provide pilots. a powerful radar system to monitor movements however would be more suitable, it could be rigged to identify individual vessels and alarm when they stray too far from the centre of the channel, there would be technology currently available to do this. ie. air traffic control systems.

I agree. Wasn't there a ship grounding a few years ago in FNQ that was under the command of a pilot. Pilots are not the answer, to stop accidents you would have to remove all ships.

The gap they were going through was 13 klm wide and 40m deep navigating through there is not rocket science. From the bridge of a large ship on this course from Fairway Bouy to Douglas shoal it would be easy to line up NM island and North Reef and then to start the turn without the use of a GPS.

I think the navigation officer was either not on the bridge or he was asleep.

[Chine]

It would appear that fatigue may prove to be the contributing factor. This is not a shortcut but a well recognised and well used alternate route.

[jtpython]

See a flash looking black helipcopter heading that way today was it our green bold headed Peter Garret
Well i'm heading sort or that way tomorrow so wil give ya's an oil update spillage
JT

[jtpython]

Didn't see any floatage in our direction ............
JT

[Member101]

Penny for a thought?

Why not a law that says you wreck our reef, we wreck your ship. Clear her out, park her up and sink her. Artificial reef to replace the damaged one. im sure the captains would be alot more cautious if the ship was on the chopping block if an incident occurs.

Steve

[FNQCairns]

i heard just yesterday another tanker was caught taking a shortcut, in the meantime the authorities have decided to open their blind eye it seems, shame the general public was not such an easy mark, guaranteed there has been many more than 1 instance over time of the authorities rounding up a stray tanker to target an Anglers reef take.

cheers fnq

[Bros]

Bit of a read if you have the time as to why pilots aren't the complete solution.

http://www.amsa.gov.au/Publications/Shipping/Great_Barrier_Reef_pilotage_fatigue_risk_assessmen t.pdf

[trymyluck]

Well seems like they have refloated it and its off the reef, lets hope they can keep it in 1 piece and afloat long enough to get it into port.

Mark

[jtpython]

Well seems like they have refloated it and its off the reef, lets hope they can keep it in 1 piece and afloat long enough to get it into port.

Mark
Mate thats great .............. Something good had to happen
JT

[trymyluck]

Mate thats great .............. Something good had to happen
JT


Yep fingers crossed and if they do get it safely back to port, although I've got to wonder about their plan to take it to an anchorage just north of Keppel. It may be the best thing to happen to the area, having given them a wake up call.

Mark

[Bros]

It may be the best thing to happen to the area, having given them a wake up call.

And wern't they lucky as they had almost perfect weather since the ship grounded and now a strong wind warning is out. The result could have been so much different if the weather wasn't n their favour.

[trymyluck]

And wern't they lucky as they had almost perfect weather since the ship grounded and now a strong wind warning is out. The result could have been so much different if the weather wasn't n their favour.


I think thats why they rushed the refloat. If it had happened a couple of weeks ago they would be picking bits and pieces up and a whole lot of oil I'd say. Maybe there is a god...........:speechless:

[cuzzamundi]

How long do you guys reckon the B@#tard thing will be anchored near keppel? Are we talking weeks? And i hope she doesnt decide to break up that close to shore.

Cuzza

[PADDLES]

interesting that over a week and a half after the thing ran aground they've finally run a story in fairfax press on what the antifoul has done as the hull skidded for over a kilometre along the reef. it's killing everything it touches. people only seem to get emotional over the stuff they can actually see. no-one really gave a rats @rse about what happens when the dispersant/oil and the antifoul hits the coral because they can't show that easily on tv.

[Chine]

For those interested, this is the ATSB preliminary factual report. The formal investigation has a long way to go.

http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMIX/2010apr00160.html

[banksmister]

Still dragging on.

http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/shen-nengs-toxic-paint-still-stains-great-barrier/2812873/