Qld: Outrage over lack of pilot on grounded ship

AAP General News (Australia)
04-04-2010
Qld: Outrage over lack of pilot on grounded ship

Another oil spill off the Queensland coast has sparked outrage among conservationists.

Capricorn Conservation Council spokesman IAN HERBERT says ships between Gladstone and
Cairns should be required to have a marine pilot guide them through the Great Barrier
Reef.

Authorities are still trying to determine how much oil has leaked from a 230 metre-long
Chinese coal carrier that ran aground on a reef 70 kilometres east of Great Keppel Island
yesterday .. rupturing a fuel tank.

Mr HERBERT says a year ago Moreton Island was polluted by an oil spill .. now it's
Great Keppel .. and the potential for further damage will only increase as the number
of ships transporting coal and LNG from Gladstone and Rockhampton explodes over the next
decade.

He says the Queensland government's been acting like snake oil salesmen .. spruiking
the riches to be made from LNG and coal exports .. without acknowledging the environmental
harm.

AAP RTV stg/jmt

KEYWORD: CARRIER CONSERVATION (BRISBANE)

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