cdiver2
Contributor
Ships dumping garbage on the reef
Michelle Wiese Bockmann
January 18, 2005
INTERNATIONAL ships are illegally polluting the Great Barrier Reef by dumping garbage and oily bilge water into the sensitive area, prompting a crackdown by federal authorities.
Three foreign ship owners are before the courts and a further five are under investigation after allegedly being caught by routine checks of their logs at their Australian ports of call. Foodwaste, crockery, packaging and oily waste are among garbage thrown overboard by cargo ships travelling on the busy international shipping lane through the reef and Torres Strait, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
In response, AMSA issued a worldwide notice to international ship owners, warning it was "greatly concerned at the high number of pollution incidents that continue to be reported in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait". The ship owners were given a month's notice of the crackdown which will begin late this month, the marine notice indicated.
AMSA has warned of "significant penalties" under its "focused inspection campaign". The most recent pollution penalty levied on a foreign ship was $65,000 last October.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said the pollution threatened wildlife and the reef habitat, affecting coral reproduction and seagrass. "Oils are highly toxic to reefs," said authority shipping officer James Aston.
The authority is the principal adviser to the federal government on the care of the 348,000sqkm World Heritage-listed marine park extending from the top of Cape York to just north of Fraser Island.
An AMSA report in 2002 said waste and sewage disposal from vessels potentially had long-term, chronic effects on the coral reef ecosystem.
About 6000 ship transits are recorded each year in the high-traffic area stretching from just south of Gladstone to Cape York. Most ships are bulk carriers exporting coal from the Hay Point coal terminal near Mackay.
Ships may legally dump sewage, plastic and other garbage in Australian waters outside a 12-nautical-mile limit, except within the prohibited discharge area incorporating the Great Barrier Reef, under an internationally-recognised convention.
AMSA described the pollution as "minor in terms of the pollution level" and said it "would not have any major environmental impact". "But any form of pollution is unacceptable," a spokesman said.
AMSA has declined to release details of current prosecutions before the courts, or the names of ships currently under investigation, except to say all were foreign-flagged and that most were registered in Panama, the world's largest flag-of-convenience registry.
AMSA also would not outline when the transgressions had occurred, fearing this information may jeopardise its current investigations.
"It's become clear that crews on board the ships operating in the Great Barrier Reef are not aware of our discharge regulations," the AMSA spokesman said. "There is a lack of understanding of the requirements."
About 3200 foreign-flagged ships make 18,000 port calls around Australia, with port state control surveyors making 2900 checks annually.
Michelle Wiese Bockmann
January 18, 2005
INTERNATIONAL ships are illegally polluting the Great Barrier Reef by dumping garbage and oily bilge water into the sensitive area, prompting a crackdown by federal authorities.
Three foreign ship owners are before the courts and a further five are under investigation after allegedly being caught by routine checks of their logs at their Australian ports of call. Foodwaste, crockery, packaging and oily waste are among garbage thrown overboard by cargo ships travelling on the busy international shipping lane through the reef and Torres Strait, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
In response, AMSA issued a worldwide notice to international ship owners, warning it was "greatly concerned at the high number of pollution incidents that continue to be reported in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait". The ship owners were given a month's notice of the crackdown which will begin late this month, the marine notice indicated.
AMSA has warned of "significant penalties" under its "focused inspection campaign". The most recent pollution penalty levied on a foreign ship was $65,000 last October.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said the pollution threatened wildlife and the reef habitat, affecting coral reproduction and seagrass. "Oils are highly toxic to reefs," said authority shipping officer James Aston.
The authority is the principal adviser to the federal government on the care of the 348,000sqkm World Heritage-listed marine park extending from the top of Cape York to just north of Fraser Island.
An AMSA report in 2002 said waste and sewage disposal from vessels potentially had long-term, chronic effects on the coral reef ecosystem.
About 6000 ship transits are recorded each year in the high-traffic area stretching from just south of Gladstone to Cape York. Most ships are bulk carriers exporting coal from the Hay Point coal terminal near Mackay.
Ships may legally dump sewage, plastic and other garbage in Australian waters outside a 12-nautical-mile limit, except within the prohibited discharge area incorporating the Great Barrier Reef, under an internationally-recognised convention.
AMSA described the pollution as "minor in terms of the pollution level" and said it "would not have any major environmental impact". "But any form of pollution is unacceptable," a spokesman said.
AMSA has declined to release details of current prosecutions before the courts, or the names of ships currently under investigation, except to say all were foreign-flagged and that most were registered in Panama, the world's largest flag-of-convenience registry.
AMSA also would not outline when the transgressions had occurred, fearing this information may jeopardise its current investigations.
"It's become clear that crews on board the ships operating in the Great Barrier Reef are not aware of our discharge regulations," the AMSA spokesman said. "There is a lack of understanding of the requirements."
About 3200 foreign-flagged ships make 18,000 port calls around Australia, with port state control surveyors making 2900 checks annually.
