Barrier Reef damage 'severe' from ship grounding

SYDNEY – A coal carrier that ran aground and leaked about 3 tons of oil on Australia's Great Barrier Reef completely pulverized parts of a shoal and caused damage so severe it could take marine life 20 years to recover, the reef's chief scientist said Tuesday.

Initial assessments by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority found the 755-foot (230-meter) Shen Neng 1 left a scar 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) long and up to 820 feet (250 meters) wide along the world's largest coral reef, said scientist David Wachenfeld, who is coordinating the authority's assessment of the ship's impact.

"We were expecting some fairly severe damage to this location, and our observations to date confirm that expectation," he said.

The full story is here:news.yahoo.com...

It appears the 3 tons of oil that spilled caused only minor damage. The ship however, has caused an abundance of damage.

More troubling it seems, is the ships use of paint on its hull. It isn't unusual for ships to use "anti-fouling" paints to inhibit growth on the bottom of them, but the paint from this ship has been knocked off onto the reef.

Not to mention the fact they were in restricted waters to begin with which helped create the disaster. Officials are saying it could take up to 20 years to have the damaged reef repair itself. If it even can in places because of the paint.

This is really sad! The human race is single handedly destroying the earth. As the native Americans say "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

Bligh said the maximum penalty for corporations would increase from 1.75 million Australian dollars ($1.64 million) to AU$10 million, and individuals would face fines of AU$500,000 — up from AU$350,000.

This is a good thing, but I wonder just how much this incident will cost the company responsible. How do you quantify something like that?

reply to post by ghostsoldier


This wasn't even the only incident last week in that restricted area. The day after a Panamanian flagged ship entered another restricted area of the reef. They were caught, but have since made bail.

The South Korean master and two Vietnamese officers of the Panama-flagged coal boat MV Mimosa were granted bail and ordered to reappear Friday. They face maximum fines of 220,000 Australian dollars ($205,000).

I wonder if they will show.

t amazes me we can launch satellites and use orbital pulls to increase speed and launch satellite far into space but we can't master boats. You think with the technology we have today we'd be able to prevent something as simple as an oil spill or have an actual system capable of keeping boats out of areas like the barrier reef.

I'd like to see all companies responsible for things like this burnt to the ground.

reply to post by groomlake9


While I agree with you, I feel as though the damage should be put in some sort of perspective
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.

Now the damage from the ship is approximately 3 kilometers long, even with anti foul spread around the area, it does have a shelf life and becomes inactive after a few years.
As disastrerous as this sounds small fish such as damsel fish will find this destruction as a bonanza as it would have broken up coral revealing the small organisms like worms that live in the coral.

Don't get me wrong, I think the ship captain should have the book thrown at him, I also feel as though the media have made this sound worse than it really is, spilt oil floats on the surface spreading as it goes and can disipate and cause very minimal distress to coral and if the ship broke up, the coal cargo would float on the surface doing no damage at all to the reef.

even though 3 kilometers sounds like a large distance, put it in perspective to the length of the reef being 2,600 kilometres long

i have heard that this ship was was taking a shortcut when it got stuck,probably to save travel time and therefore money .why dont these ships have pilots on board until they reach open waters ,we had another incident last year that left oil on the beaches and dropped some containers containing chemicals.This area is pristine they should keep these ships under control or get some better drivers.

reply to post by munkey66


I agree with your assessment that in the grand scheme of things, this damage is minimal. But at least 1 other ship getting caught in the restricted zone in the same week of the reef, it;s just a matter of time before there are multiple strikes. The next one might spill a lot more oil. Or fuel. Or direct hull damage might be greater.

In the grand scheme of thing, yes, the reef got lucky. So did the planet. The next time might not be so lucky. Enough of these "small strikes" will eventually add up and start causing real damage.

The problem is that the reef is under duress. While 2600 miles long, it is still a very fragile ecosystem. It is large, but not that large. Just like other finite ecosystems, even minimal damage can cause major issues. And reefs grow ever so slowly, hence their vulnerability.

A tree is mighty, but I have seen some killed just by one hole being drilled into. Size only gets you so far.

If you ever watch that show with the whale warriors, the people who try to stop whaling ships, a lot of time it is in Austrailian waters.

What is with the poaching on Austrailian waters? And maybe AU should start taking protecting them more seriously.


Either way, this accident is awful awful awful. *shakes head in disgust*

[edit on 13-4-2010 by nixie_nox]

reply to post by nixie_nox


Very nicely said Nixie.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
The problem is that the reef is under duress. While 2600 miles long, it is still a very fragile ecosystem. It is large, but not that large. Just like other finite ecosystems, even minimal damage can cause major issues. And reefs grow ever so slowly, hence their vulnerability.

A tree is mighty, but I have seen some killed just by one hole being drilled into. Size only gets you so far.

If you ever watch that show with the whale warriors, the people who try to stop whaling ships, a lot of time it is in Austrailian waters.

What is with the poaching on Austrailian waters? And maybe AU should start taking protecting them more seriously.


Either way, this accident is awful awful awful. *shakes head in disgust*

[edit on 13-4-2010 by nixie_nox]

How can a growing expanding reef be a finite eco system?
If finite you mean only able to grow in water or unable to leave the earth you are right.
This is the 6th great barrier reef, 10,000 years ago where most of the reef sits was open plains, and under parts of the reef have been discovered remnants to ancient mangroves.

Coral is a lot tougher than people give it credit for, while it is true that some corals take a long time to grow, others are very fast growing, hard corals can grow at around 15cm (6 inches) a year, softer corals can grow faster again.

Having lived and worked on the reef itself for the last 40+ years I come from a position of somewhat experince of seeing what the reef is able to put up with.

Now I repeat again for the hard of reading, I am all for protecting the reef and believe all large ships require a pilot on board, the captain should have the book thrown at him for taking a shortcut.

Listening on our local news they described the ship being refloated under the veil of night like it was a covert operation rather the simple fact that the tide was rising and it was the best oportunity.

You would think on a conspiracy site people would stop taking to the media as gosple.

reply to post by munkey66


Reefs can only exist in certain depths. They are very sensitive to temperature changes, and many factors have to line up for the different entities to co=exist with each other. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most important ecosystems, as 80% of species have some part of it, and thousands call it home. Just like a fish tank, everything has to be just right for it to exist. Anything goes out of line, it can affect the entire ecosystem.

While yes some coral does grow fast, others don't. But there are 500 different kinds of corals, you need more then a few to make up a successful reef.

reply to post by nixie_nox


you don't know much about coral do you?

There are arctic corals
www.sep.org.uk...


Most coral we know grow in tropical regions and grow at many depths although most people are familiar with growth that occurs as far as light penetrates due to the symbiotic relationship between the coral polyp and the zooxanthellae. ( the zooxanthellae photosynthesisis the light in turn feeding the coral.)

Now coral also grows close to the surface, thses are usually the slower growing corals and over time they start to turn into coral cays and eventually Islands

But as I said, only 40+ years experience on the reef, What would I know about it, I mean having worked on it teaching people about the reef means nothing does it?

you see, experts don't visit the reefs in bad weather, they go out for a few days, collect a bit of data and process it for the next 6 months without seeing the daily changes that occur.
I have seen areas destroyed by a cyclone bounce back within 5 years, natural destruction is important to a healthy reef, without destruction the reef suffers because there is no areas left open for new corals to take their place, that is why the great barrier reef is so diverse.
If a new coral lands on an existing coral it gets eaten, if the coral is broken and the new coral gets a foot hold it has a greater chance of surviving, coral does not grow in sand but rather on shells or broken coral, as their is only few rocks on the reef close to shore, it is nearly impossible for a new coral to grow.

now can you explain to me once agin how a 3 kilometer area being broken up will kill the reef?
20 Mar 2006 ... Cyclone Larry hit north queensland doing far more damage than this 1 ship, year after year the reef gets ripped up by cyclones and yet it is still here and growing, care to explain that too me?

2 arrested from ship that smashed australian reef


Now this is what I call justice for the carelessness that was shown by the captian and the senior officer who were in charge.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
If you ever watch that show with the whale warriors, the people who try to stop whaling ships, a lot of time it is in Austrailian waters.

What is with the poaching on Austrailian waters? And maybe AU should start taking protecting them more seriously.

Whilst I hate Japanese whalers as much as anyone, I must correct what you've said here...

The Japanese are whaling in the Southern Ocean, in an area Australia has designated as a whale sanctuary...This area is off Antarctic territory claimed by Australia but not recognised by the international community so the whalers are not killing whales in Australian waters at all...

Believe me, I'd like to see nothing less than whaling cease, full stop...But to keep perpetuating the myth the Japanese are hunting whales in Australian waters only gives the whaling crowd the ammo to say the anti-whaling mob can't get their legalities right...

The last thing those of us against whaling needs is for the pro-whalers to have the ability to say we don't know what we're talking about and shouldn't be trusted...

On topic tho...The owners of this ship should have their ships permanently barred from sailing within 500 km of any part of the Great Barrier Reef, as well as any penalties that might apply from court action taken against the company as well as paying for the full cost of cleaning up this mess...

The federal and Queensland governments are really good at saying look at our wonderful reef on one hand and even better at allowing ships that close to it on the other...

Anything to feed our trading partners appetites for our natural resources, even if it means environmental catastrophe, which didn't happen this time, but it is only a matter of time before it does whilst ships are allowed anywhere near the reef...