On 3 April 2010, the Chinese bulk coal carrier Shen Neng I ran aground on Douglas Shoal causing direct impact the southern Great Barrier Reef. The owners and insurers of the Chinese bulk carrier Shen Neng 1 have accepted their responsibility to pay for damage .
Since the grounding, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has insisted that Douglas Shoal must be repaired to allow the naturally resilient corals in that area to recover, after the fully laden 225 metre-long Shen Neng 1 left the reef top crushed and coated with toxic paint as it drifted over three kilometres.
The decision to pursue a legal claim for damages, after negotiations with the vessel’s insurers became protracted, has now led to an agreement to make funds available for a clean-up. While the court processes were underway, the Marine Park Authority conducted surveys at the site and tested clean-up methods.
The agency will use the funds from the settlement to initiate field operations to remove paint and rubble, enabling restoration of the natural ecological processes on this reef.
Earlier on in this matter, the investigation also led to the ship’s master and first officer being convicted of criminal offences against the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act. The first officer was found criminally negligent, resulting in a jail term.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is a place of outstanding beauty and diversity, and all who use it have a responsibility to ensure it remains this way for current and future generations.
Source & Image credit: GBRMPA
