Grounded ship: 3km oil spill on Great Barrier Reef

By MARISSA CALLIGEROS
April 4, 2010 – 5:08PM Maritime authorities are racing to disperse an oil spill stretching three kilometres along the Great Barrier Reef. The Chinese-owned, 230 metre-long bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1, ran aground about 70 kilometres east of Great Keppel Island shortly after 5pm on Saturday, sparking a national oil spill response plan. A second dose of chemical dispersants was to be sprayed over the spill, which measures 3000 metres by 100 metres, Maritime Safety Queensland has confirmed. “One set of dispersants were deployed by light aircraft earlier today and a second spray has been scheduled for this afternoon to manage a ‘ribbon’ of oil,” Maritime Safety Queensland said in a statement. “While the amount of oil is considered relatively small at this stage, it is a ‘persistent’ substance and expected to take some time to break apart.” The chemical dispersant was sprayed this morning over two small patches of oil, understood to amount to two tonnes. The spill is located about four kilometres from the grounded bulk coal carrier, which is carrying 950 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 65,000 tonnes of coal. Maritime Safety Queensland general manager Patrick Quirk said an ocean swell of about two to three metres had ruled out deploying a ‘boom’ to contain the spill to date. …