Stricken Coal Ship Being Battered By Strong Currents

Fears That 'Water Plug' May Give Way

A stranded coal carrier which slammed into the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday night was being battered by strong currents on Monday raising fears that more oil from the ship would leak onto the Reef. There were also fears that a 'water plug' which has been preventing tonnes of oil spewing from the grounded ship may give way if the vessel is refloated too soon. A second tugboat has been sent to help keep the ship from grinding against the reef and releasing more oil.

The Chinese-registered Shen Neng 1 ran aground on the Reef, some 38 miles away from the nearest shipping lanes. It was carrying 65,000 tonnes of coal and around 300,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil.

"One of the most worrying aspects is that the ship is still moving on the reef due to the action of the seas, which is doing further damage," Queensland’s Maritime Safety General Manager, Captain Patrick Quirk, said in a statement. Captain Quirk said further assessment has revealed more than two tonnes of oil spilled from overflow pipes on the ship's deck rather than storage tanks onboard. "The oil is being held from the breach tank by a hydrostatic plug of water," he explained. That `plug' was caused by the pressure of the ocean water outside preventing the oil and water escaping from the ship's engine room.
On Sunday aeroplanes dropped a chemical dispersant on top of an oil slick trailing from the carrier.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said that the ship had acted illegally by going into restricted waters and that federal officials should severely penalise the ship’s owners and captain. Meanwhile the federal authorities are to launch an investigation as to why the ship had strayed into a restricted zone so far from shipping lanes.



The ship is owned by COSCO Oceania Pty Limited in Australia.