Supply ship grounding an ‘accident waiting to happen’
Carrying 20 tonnes of marine diesel fuel i Investigations are under way into the grounding of a supply ship carrying 20 tonnes of marine diesel fuel in the lagoon of the world heritage-listed Lord Howe Island.As NSW Maritime sent a marine investigator to the coral-fringed island to inspect the MV Island Trader, which ran aground on Monday, the Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon told the Herald she warned the state government seven years ago that the operations of the ship were ''an accident waiting to happen''.''The state government has for too long got away with lax arrangements for this shipping service,'' Ms Rhiannon said.She had said there were grave fears that the ship, which rides very low in the water and carries fuel supplies in a single-skinned hull, could cause an environmental disaster if it was involved in an accident.The MV Island Trader, which has the monopoly on the route carrying food and fuel to the island from Port Macquarie, hit a sandbank after unloading its cargo on Lord Howe Island.Concerns have also been raised that environmental safety procedures were not immediately followed and pollution prevention booms were not put in place around the ship until more than 24 hours after ...
Read more