Coal Tanker may break up on the Great Barrier Reef

Over the weekend, it was reported that a Chinese ship transporting from Australia ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef nine miles outside shipping lanes, in an area where shipping is prohibited by environmental law. Oil patches have been spotted, and there is fear that the ship may break into pieces: releasing 72,000 tons of coal into the water.

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This is a potential nightmare for Australia, environmentalists, and the world. If the oil and coal from that ship are released into the water, right on top of the reef: there will be mass destruction of that ecosystem. I can hardly imagine the devastation that would be visited upon the reef and surrounding waters. It would be an absolute catastrophe.

But the question is this: what is a massive Chinese vessel doing nine miles outside the shipping lanes, in a marine sanctuary, transporting coal?? This is unbelievable and unacceptable. Obviously, there needs to be much better oversight in the waters surrounding Australia, especially around reefs, to ensure that ships do not stray outside their lanes. And there also needs to be much better handling of their ships by the Chinese. In this day and age, it's pretty difficult for a tanker to get lost and not realize where they are. So either the captain was extremely incompetent (or asleep), the navigational equipment failed (and the crew didn't realize that shallow water looks different than deep water), or the ship was cutting corners. The only explanation that is remotely excusable is the scenario of broken equipment: in that case, it's probably a good thing that the reef stopped the ship before it sailed off to God-knows-where. But such an explanation is unlikely.

There has already been a lot of public outcry against this, and that is good. Attention needs to be drawn to this event to ensure that it does not happen again.