Australia has arrested the captain and first mate of the Chinese ship which ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian government is saying that the ship did great harm to the reef, which is protected by law. Besides the physical damage caused by the ship's hull, tons of fuel were lost into the water. The government believes it will take 20 or more years for the Reef to recover.
Some sources say that the ship's captain had deliberately taken an illegal course through the area, causing the grounding.
3 comments:
The course the ship took actually was not illegal - but not the more accepted route through the reef. The channel was 12km wide, the ship's captain appears to have stuffed up in a big way. He's been in jail - out on bail now. Luckily the fuel oil spill was small. The good thing that has come out of this mess is that people are more aware of all the traffic going through the reef and there will be a major tightening of the regulations for passage and piloting. There are a lot of ports along the Queensland coast, and China wants all our minerals and coal, so its a busy place.
it's a busy place. sorry - I hate that.
The world has reached a point in its evolution of human consciousness that it can define crimes against the environment; and the forces of justice should punish those who have taken it upon themselves to ignore the best interests of the natural world.
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