Race on to limit tanker spill damage

All large cargo ships travelling near the Great Barrier Reef may be forced to carry
a pilot as authorities search for ways to prevent further environmental disasters.
Australia's maritime authority also says a remote monitoring system that detects
when ships stray off course may need to be expanded.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has demanded federal authorities "throw the book" at
the owners of a Chinese coal ship that spilled oil in the Great Barrier Reef marine
park almost 30km outside its shipping lane.
The 230-metre Shen Neng 1 was sailing at full speed in a restricted zone of the
marine park on Saturday when it hit Douglas Shoal, offshore from Rockhampton.
Federal officials will interview the crew on Tuesday, after reports the ship may
have taken a short cut after offloading a pilot who'd been on board for the early
stage of its journey.
A furious Ms Bligh on Monday said everything was being done to limit the damage from
what appeared to be blatant breaches of Australia's shipping laws.
"This is an extremely serious incident. This ship has acted illegally going into
these restricted areas," she told reporters in Brisbane.
"The commonwealth government is now investigating how this happened, and I hope,
frankly, they throw the book at them."
Three to four tonnes of fuel oil had leaked into the sea, Maritime Safety Queensland
(MSQ) general manager Patrick Quirk told reporters on Monday afternoon.
Dispersant was used to break up an oil slick which, at one point, was 3km long and
about 100 metres wide.
Only a minuscule amount of oil is still flowing from pipes on the deck into the
water, Mr Quirk said.
An aerial survey had not detected any sign of oil on beaches in the Shoalhaven area
of Queensland's central coast.
Initial fears that the ship might break up had eased, Mr Quirk said.
"We've stabilised the ship ... in the current conditions we are reasonably assured
as far as we can be that there will be no catastrophic break-up of the ship," he
said.
But he added the situation could change quickly if the weather turned bad, and the
vessel, carrying 65,000 tonnes of coal and 950 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, was still
grinding against the shoal.
A boom will be placed around the stricken ship by Tuesday at the latest to catch any
more oil that may spill.
Mr Quirk said salvage experts were onboard, working out how to refloat the ship, a
process that could take weeks.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) chief executive Graham Peachey said AMSA
would do everything to ensure the disaster response was well managed and to prevent
more such accidents.
A formal inquiry will look at the need to make maritime pilots mandatory, Mr Peachey
said.
"It's premature to leap to a conclusion that a pilot would have prevented this from
occurring, but certainly it will be part of the investigation to make sure this sort
of thing doesn't happen in the future," he told reporters in Canberra.
He did not rule out possible charges against the shipping company or its skipper.
AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said there was no regime requiring every cargo
vessel traversing reef areas to have a local pilot onboard.
Mandatory pilotage requirements exist only in pockets, such as around Cairns, where
the reef is extremely difficult to navigate.
But she said AMSA would consider making pilots compulsory for any vessel of more
than 70 metres in all parts of the Great Barrier Reef area.
AMSA was also looking at expanding the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), which uses
sensors and radars to detect if ships run off course, she said.
The federal government will consider tightening rules for shipping in the Great
Barrier Reef area. Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett will discuss
possible new measures with his transport counterpart Anthony Albanese.
Mr Garrett has asked the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to set up a
scientific panel to assess the environmental damage and consider strategies for
removing the Shen Neng 1.
MSQ said the stricken ship was owned by Shenzhen Energy, a subsidiary of the COSCO
Group - China's largest shipping company.
The company could be fined $1 million and the ship's captain $250,000 if they are
found to have broken Australian maritime law.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is due to fly over the site of the spill on Tuesday morning.