The 230-metre-long Chinese-owned bulker 'Shen Neng 1', which ran aground near Australia's Great Barrier Reef on April 3, some 38 nautical miles east of Great Keppel Island, was pulled free by two tugs and towed to safe anchorage on the evening of Monday, April 12, during high tide, relieving concerns that the coal carrier might break up during expected heavy weather in the following weeks. Most of the vessel's heavy fuel oil had been offloaded before towing.
The vessel had allegedly struck the reef at full speed, seven nautical miles outside of the legal shipping lane. It was carrying 950 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 65,000 tonnes of coal.
With its hull breached, the vessel is said to have released some two tonnes of heavy fuel oil before stabilisation.
Chemical dispersants were deployed on the oil slick, which stretched some three kilometres and was 100 metres wide. A small plane delivered two doses of dispersants to the two tonnes of oil. The spill was eventually contained to two patches.
Early assessments of the impact of the grounding include assertions that the vessel moved a kilometre along the reef during its week-long grounding, gouging the coral reef and leaving paint and anti-fouling agents in its wake, the latter causing obvious biological damage to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed barrier reef.
After the vessel had been stabilised, Maritime Safety Queensland General Manager Patrick Quirk said that the focus was on limiting damage to the reef. He added that initial damage reports found that the 'Shen Neng 1's' main engine room had been breached and its main engine and rudder were damaged.
The vessel was travelling from Gladstone without a pilot in a restricted zone and it was allegedly seven nautical mils outside the shipping lane.
The Premier of the Australian state of Queensland, Anna Bligh, said that Australian investigators would examine why the vessel was outside the shipping lane and would act in the Queensland Parliament to toughen legislation around shipping in coming weeks, significantly increasing penalties for the spilling of oil and other noxious liquids.
State authorities will also examine the alleged two-hour delay in reporting the grounding. The vessel grounded around 5pm on April 3 but Maritime Services Queensland was only notified at 7pm.
A spokeswoman for Premier Bligh said that the ship owners and master might have breached the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act, the Protection of the Sea Act, the Navigation Act as well as international liability conventions.
The ship's owners, China's Shenzhen Energy Transport, could be fined more than US$927,000 and its Captain could be fined US$204,000, if these allegations are proved to be true.
