by Hans | April 5th, 2010
Aircraft will be used later today to gauge the success of chemical dispersants dropped on fuel oil leaking from the Shen Neng 1, a 230-meter bulk carrier aground east of Great Keppel Island, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Brisbane, Maritime Safety Queensland spokesman Mark Strong said today. Work on a plan to shift the vessel is also underway, he said.The Shen Neng 1 was bound for China after loading at the Port of Gladstone on Queensland’s central coast. While the volume of fuel spilt so far is small, there is a risk of further leaks, particularly during efforts to refloat the ship, Strong said.
“We’ve got a carrier aground in a sensitive environmental area,” he said by phone from Brisbane. “It’s certainly being treated very seriously.” The Shen Neng 1 is stranded in the Douglas Shoals 38 nautical miles east of Great Keppel Island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest reef system and a world heritage site.
The vessel’s captain reported a tank holding about 150 metric tons of fuel had been holed, Maritime Safety said. Dispersants were sprayed on a number of oil patches southeast of the ship earlier today and no further slicks have been sighted, Strong said.
Source: Bloomberg
