Water pressure the only thing preventing disastrous oil spill at the Great Barrier Reef

SAFFRON HOWDEN, TOM ARUP AND BEN CUBBY
April 6, 2010 A PLUG made of compressed coral and held in place by water pressure is likely to be the only thing stopping more than 900 tonnes of oil gushing from a grounded bulk coal carrier onto the Great Barrier Reef. Salvage experts – some from the team that rescued the Pasha Bulker off Newcastle in 2007 – spent yesterday scrambling to assess and contain the damage to the 230-metre, Chinese-registered Shen Neng 1, stranded on a shoal 70 kilometres east of Great Keppel Island. As state and local authorities hoped for the best and prepared for the worst, Maritime Safety Queensland revealed a ”water plug” was stemming the tide of environmental disaster. ”Water pressure is keeping any spillage in place,” a spokesman said. ”It’s wedged up against a coral shoal. Between these two things, it appears there’s no oil leaking as a result.” Today will be critical to containing the damage, authorities said. An oil slick three kilometres by 100 metres escaped the damaged ship on Sunday, after it veered off course into the well-charted reef late on Saturday. …

Water pressure preventing disastrous oil spill