The Chief officer and the company of a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier were fined and convicted for dumping garbage into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
After a prosecution by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), on Friday 26 February 2021, the chief officer and company of a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier were fined and convicted in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for dumping the equivalent of a 120-litre household garbage bin full of food waste into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
More specifically, in 2018, Iron Gate was on a voyage between Brisbane and Gladstone when the chief officer approved the discharge of garbage overboard about 24 kilometres south-east of Lady Elliot Island, within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Australian waters.
Under the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983, food waste cannot be discharged within 22 kilometres seaward of the boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
AMSA General Manager Operations, Allan Schwartz, said it was important to help protect Australia’s precious marine environment from the impacts of shipping.
We take a zero-tolerance approach to pollution from shipping and that is why, after detecting this breach during a routine inspection of Iron Gate in 2018, we detained the ship and later charged the chief officer and company, Kairasu Shipping S.A.
In total, the fines against both parties amount to about $6,600.
Dumping garbage into the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef isn’t something you want on your professional record. These convictions should serve as a reminder to other industry operators that in Australia, we make sure polluters pay
said Mr. Schwartz.
