REEF SHIPPING RISKS ARE ASSESSED
The risk of a ship colliding with another vessel or grounding on the
Great Barrier Reef is 2.5 times greater on the inner route than on the
outer, according to a CRC funded report from James Cook University.
However, the Centre's second finding was that the risk of a major oil
spill on the Reef largely depends on external factors, particularly the
presence of pilots. That, together with the greater risk of a spill once
an incident occurs on the outer route, led to the conclusion that the
outer route may actually become the more dangerous of the two routes.
The CRC's findings, the basis on which Federal Transport Minister Laurie
Brereton recently announced decisions to move the current concentrations
of bulk shipping away from the inner route, are contained in the report
of the GBR and Torres Strait Shipping Study Steering Committee.
The Committee said other important factors affecting the relative risk
- but which were not able to be quantitatively analysed - were foundering,
stranding or groundings on unsurveyed obstacles, and groundings on reefs
located to one side of the main Reef channel.
In the inner channel route, the presence of trawlers was also identified
as a real (but unqualified) risk, which could result in groundings. The
committee concluded that there are likely to be benefits in reducing the
overall risk by improving the opportunity for safer navigation (especially
in the outer route) and addressing the problems associated with fishing
trawlers.
A number of recommendations were made, including that the Australian
Marine Safety Agency, in consultation with the Queensland Government and
GBRMPA, should consider the preparation of a Reef Code covering navigational,
operational and environmental procedures to be observed by major shipping,
fishing and tourism operators.
page top | contents
| next page
|
