Tag: Great Barrier Reef

After drifting for several days in the Coral Sea off Far North Queensland

Shipping incidents around the Great Barrier Reef are rising - environmental groups express concern Environmental groups and marine pilots have expressed concern at an increase in shipping incidents around the Great Barrier Reef, following the breakdown of a bulk carrier in the Coral Sea on Friday.The Danish owned, Hong Kong registered vessel ID Integrity was en-route to Townsville to load sugar when it broke down 175 nautical miles north-east of Cairns.The World Wildlife Fund's Richard Leck says it was "pure luck that we didn't have a major disaster on our hands" considering the vessel's proximity to the reef.Mr Leck is calling for better shipping management practices to be put in place before any further expansion of the industry."The current level of ship traffic is not being managed safely and if you are going to dramatically increase that number of ships through which is what all forecasts are saying, then you are going to dramatically increase that risk."Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says an increase in shipping traffic does not have to equate to an increase in incidents and says Federal authorities have the situation under control."Just because there are more ship movements, doesn't mean we are going to have more accidents".Australian ...

How to better regulate ship traffic through the Great Barrier Reef Environmentalists are hopeful an international report will give the Queensland government ideas on how to better regulate ship traffic through the Great Barrier Reef.Bulk carrier ID Integrity lost power off the far north Queensland coast on Friday and narrowly avoided being run aground on Shark Reef.It passed safely over the reef and will likely be towed to Townsville on Monday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority says.The Wilderness Society's northern Australia campaigner Gavan MacFadzean said he was hopeful UNESCO would detail some options about shipping regulations when it releases a report on the state of conservation in the Great Barrier Reef.'We look forward to seeing some recommendations which make traversing the reef by bulk carrier safer,' Mr MacFadzean told AAP on Monday.'(We hope they) make specific recommendations about how we're going to handle this big increase in ship movements and port developments.'The report, due to be released next week, will make recommendations about whether the reef should be listed as a World Heritage site in danger.UNESCO last year rebuked the Queensland and federal government for failing to inform it about two major liquefied natural gas projects on Curtis Island.Mr MacFadzean ...

Review of how ships pass by the Great Barrier Reef Australian marine pilots on Monday called for a review of how ships pass by the Great Barrier Reef, warning of the risk of a major environmental disaster on the tourist attraction.Australian Reef Pilots, a firm with a century of experience in the region, raised its concerns after a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier broke down near the reef on Friday and drifted disabled for more than a day before it was secured.The company wants to see shipping routes restricted and the area where vessels must use pilots extended, moves which could prompt strong objections from foreign vessels accustomed to free passage."This is a second incident in about the last month where we've had a ship drifting outside the Great Barrier Reef but drifting towards it," Australian Reef Pilots chief executive Simon Meyjes told AFP."The biggest problem there is that they are in very deep water, they can't drop anchor to stop themselves drifting so they either have to fix their own problem or wait for help to come."Meyjes said in the latest incident, involving the 186-metre (610-foot), 45,000 tonne bulk carrier ID Integrity, it took close to 48 hours for tugs ...

Guilty to illegally dumping food waste in area of the Great Barrier Reef In the Townsville Magistrates Court on 30 April 2012 the Master and owners of the Antigua & Barbuda registered bulk carrier Pantanal each pleaded guilty to illegally dumping food waste in a prohibited discharge area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.The successful prosecution was the result of an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) investigation into the incident which occurred on 8 July 2011.The magistrate found that there was sufficient evidence to establish that the Pantanal was the source of the garbage and that the incident involved a breach of the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (the Act). Additional restrictions on the discharge of garbage from ships at sea come into effect from 1 July 2013.The ship's Master was fined $500 while the owner was fined $5000. Convictions were recorded against both parties.AMSA is committed to ensuring that the disposal of waste at sea meets the prescribed requirements and will follow up breaches of the Act to the full extent of the law. Source: AMSA

Bulk carriers entering Australian waters is posing a significant risk to the Great Barrier Reef There are claims an influx of bulk carriers entering Australian waters is posing a significant risk to the Great Barrier Reef.Reef Pilots Australia says vast tracts of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are unprotected because low-cost foreign crews lack experience and local knowledge.About 1200 bulk carriers travelled through reef waters last year, with traffic increasing five per cent in five years.Mick Kinley from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority says the option of increased pilotage in the Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea and Torres Strait is being assessed."We are very aware that the consequences of are extremely high of not doing things, of risks that do come to fruition as an incident and in any cost-benefit analysis you've actually got to look at what are the potential effects of not taking that action," Mr Kinley says.But he says increased traffic in itself does not represent an increased risk."We can certainly say that the waters of the Great Barrier Reef are among some of the most highly protected waters in the world," he says.Source: ABC News

Health of the Barrier Reef is threatened fromvessels entering Australian waters Current efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef from environmental damage will be strengthened greatly by the Federal Government's shipping policy reform agenda, the Maritime Union of Australia said.The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese announced the shipping policy agenda, entitled Stronger Shipping for a Stronger Economy, late last year.Its aim is to revitalise the Australian shipping industry, which has been weakened by competition from so-called flag of convenience ships that operate without proper regulation.MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin said shipping reform had a vital role to play in the government's current efforts to protect the Barrier Reef."The health of the Barrier Reef is currently threatened from a wide range of angles, however there is obviously a very significant potential effect from shipping," he said."You don't have to go too far back to see how true this is. Accidents like the Shen Neng 1 coal carrier incident in 2010 prove just how dangerous shipping can be to the natural environment if not conducted under proper regulations."In recent years alone, the Pasha Bulker and Rena incidents have added further evidence in this area."There are a huge variety of factors ...

One of the wonders of the natural world is at risk

Thanks to Booming Oil and Gas Exports A UN team is in Australia this week investigating what damage the mining industry is causing to the Great Barrier Reef, which is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia's largest coal-producing state. Officials have been told the reef could face a tenfold increase in bulk ship traffic as coal and gas exports boom, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.The delegation from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee and the International Union for Conservation of Nature follows ''extreme concern'' from the heritage committee last year over a proposed liquid natural gas plant near Gladstone, a small town near the Queensland coast. Or, as Greenpeace put it, "Approvals for new gas processing plants on Curtis Island off Gladstone in 2011 prompted a stinging rebuke from United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)."Greenpeace and environmentalists are increasingly concerned that additional coal production, and the resulting spike in shipping traffic, could affect the World Heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef, an already-stressed but vital ecosystem.The Sydney Morning Herald has more:In a submission to the delegation, the conservation union's Australian committee warned that the dramatic growth of the Queensland resources industry had accelerated the threat to the reef ...

Greenpeace report warns MORE than one coal ship every hour will slice through the Great Barrier Reef by 2020, a Greenpeace report warns.The report says the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area will become a coal ship highway.It has estimated the number of ships to pass through the reef will increase from about 1,700 to 10,150 by 2020, based on data collated from environmental impact statements of proposed coal projects in Queensland."This is the equivalent of more than one ship departing port every hour of every day, 365 days a year," the report says."Every coal-laden vessel departing ports at Gladstone, Hay Point, Abbot Point and Cape York passes through the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area."This will increase the likelihood of oil and chemical spills and other shipping disasters, it says.Greenpeace says since 1985 an average of two major shipping collisions or groundings have occurred in the reef each year.In 2010, a Chinese coal carrier ran aground in a restricted zone of the reef off central Queensland's coast, spilling about four tonnes of heavy fuel oil and gouging a 3km-long scar into coral.Dredging, to make way for large ships, will also increase exponentially, leading to widespread impacts on the reef ...