Qld: 'Catastrophic break-up' of ship unlikely: MSQ

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2010
Qld: 'Catastrophic break-up' of ship unlikely: MSQ

By Kym Agius

BRISBANE, April 5 AAP - Queensland's peak maritime body says it's unlikely there will
be a "catastrophic break-up" of a coal carrier that has run aground on the Great Barrier
Reef.

The Chinese-registered Shen Neng 1 hit Douglas Shoal, off Rockhampton, at full-speed
on Saturday night, sparking fears the ship could split up and dump 65,000 tonnes of coal
and 950 tonnes of fuel oil into the marine park.

Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) general manager Patrick Quirk said the vessel had
dragged 30 metres across the reef, but a tug boat was now working to hold it steady.

MSQ general manager Patrick Quirk said a second tug was due to arrive before dusk to
further stabilise 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, but if the weather turned bad it will be
another problem," he told reporters in Brisbane.

The weather for the next few days was forecast to be similar to current conditions,
which posed no threat, he said.

A salvage team was onboard the ship to determine its structural damage.

It had been confirmed so far that the rudder was seriously damaged, the double bottom
tanks, which provide buoyancy for the ship, had been breached and it was suspected one
of the fuel tanks had also been breached.

Mr Quirk said MSQ was yet to decide on how the boat would be salvaged and refloated.

"One of the key issues for us is to understand the condition that vessel is currently
in after a very full-speed grounding on a very hard object," he said.

"We need to look at the strength of the vessel until we look at the refloating options.

"This will be a matter of weeks."

One option MSQ was looking at was removing all of the oil off the ship, before attempting
to refloat it.

"We want to minimise the risk to the reef," Mr Quirk said.

AAP ka/srp

KEYWORD: CARRIER MSQ

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