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           Shipping Stevedoring Port Services Hydrocarbons Diving  May-Jun 2008        |
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Hunt for rogue vessel polluting our ReefReverberations of Prestige disaster hit Townsville29 November 2002
As mopping up operations continue off the Spanish coast in the wake of the Prestige oil spill, local Townsville residents are battling a slick of their own. A yet to be identified vessel dumped an estimated 800 litres of oil fouling Australia's world heritage marine park on the Great Barrier Reef off Townsville this week. Local residents have been battling to clear up the mess that left Shelly Beach covered with foul, thick oil globules at high tide on Monday night November 25 polluting 2.5 kilometres of coastline. Local press report that more than 60 people armed with shovels, buckets and sand bags were on the beach hard at work from 11am. Experts are testing samples of the slick to determine its exact composition so it can be "fingerprinted" against material held in the bilges of vessels. Townsville Port Authority spokesperson Martin Norman said the oil was "heavy" narrowing the search down to just a few vessels believed to still be in Australian waters. State Transport Minister Steve Bredhauer has vowed to track the vessel down and bring the culprits to justice. Fines of up to $1 million can be imposed on anyone found guilty of discharging oil into marine park areas. "The boat that dumped the oil must be located and if the spill is found to have been deliberate, the Government must throw the book at those responsible"" editorialised the Townsville Bulletin. The paper described the spill as a 'wake up call'. "The incident serves as a warning on how fragile the marine environment is... planning and care would be for nothing in the event of a major shipping disaster involving a tanker," it reported. Meanwhile booms were placed across a creek mouth at the beach to prevent oil seeping into the estuarine mangroves with the night tide. Last week the Bahama Flag of Convenience tanker Prestige broke up and sank off the Spanish coast after spilling several thousand tonnes of fuel oil. An estimated 750 ageing rustbuckets with single hulls still ply the world's major ocean routes.
For further information
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