The owners of a Chinese bulk coal carrier that ran aground and spilt oil on the Great Barrier Reef could be fined up to A$1 million (US$920,000), the leader of Australia’s Queensland state said yesterday.
Salvagers were struggling to prevent the Shen Neng 1 breaking up in pristine waters off the country’s northeastern coast, potentially spilling hundreds of tonnes of oil over the reef, which is one of Australia’s top tourist attractions.
The ship slammed into Douglas Shoal on Saturday traveling at full speed and significantly away from normal shipping lanes.
PHOTO: AFP
“I think the book should be thrown at this organization,” Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh told the Australian Broadcasting Corpo. “This is a very delicate part of one of the most precious marine environments on earth and there are safe, authorized shipping channels and that’s where this ship should have been.”
A government said the vessel was owned by the Shenzhen Energy Group, part of the group of the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, better known by its acronym, COSCO.
Investigations are under way by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
An AMSA spokeswoman said its investigation would be “exploring breaches and possible offenses” under Australian law. Twenty-three crew were on board the vessel when it ran aground, she said, and so far appeared to be safe.
A COSCO spokesman in Australia could not immediately be contacted for comment yesterday. The area is part of a marine park and environmentalists say it is highly vulnerable to pollution.
The head of the government agency overseeing the operation said yesterday that the ship was still moving on the reef, causing further damage.
The main engine room had been breached, damaging its rudder and engine, Maritime Safety Queensland general manager Patrick Quirk said.
Dispersant had been sprayed to break up the spilled oil and a second tug was due in the area yesterday to help one already there to stabilize the vessel.
The 230m ship was carrying 65,000 tonnes of coal to China when it ran aground with 975 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board. Although only a small amount of oil has leaked so far, rescue officials have said the ship will require a long and careful salvage operation, expected to take weeks.
Last year, an oil spill during a storm polluted large stretches of Queensland beaches and led to a protracted legal dispute between the state government and the ship’s owners, Swire Shipping, about the cleanup bill.
Australia is a major exporter of coal. Environmentalists criticize the trade as significantly contributing to global carbon emissions and have called for a halt to plans to expand the industry. However, tourism is also a major earner of foreign exchange and the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland’s pristine beaches are among the top tourist attractions.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese