CRI听力: Chinese Ship's Oil Spill Prompts Concern in Australia

A Chinese coal-carrying ship that ran aground late Saturday on Australia's Great Barrier Reef is badly damaged and leaking oil, sparking concerns about potential damage to the World Heritage Site and the world's largest coral reef.

CRI's Australia correspondent Chen Feng has more.

The Chinese coal carrier "Shen Neng I" ran aground on Douglas Shoals east of the Queensland coast in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park off northeastern Australia.

It was carrying about 65,000 tons of coal to China and had 23 crewmembers onboard.

Ren Gongping, the Chinese consul in Brisbane, told CRI all the crewmembers are safe and sound and remain onboard the ship. But the vessel itself is badly damaged.

Patrick Quirk, General Manager of Maritime Safety Queensland, said the main engine room was breached, the main engine damaged and the rudder seriously damaged. What's more, the vessel is also in danger of breaking apart, which could be an ecological disaster for the Great Barrier Reef.

So far that hasn't happened, and only a relatively small amount of oil has leaked.

"... But the majority of the oil, the vast majority of the oil, is still onboard the ship, and that's where we want to keep it."

Quirk said a narrow spill of three to four tons of oil caused a slick about three kilometers in length and 100 meters wide on Sunday.

An aerial dispersant of chemicals has helped break up some of the oil. There has been very little oil leaking today.

But the boat itself remains a big concern. A tugboat is holding it steady, although the ship continues to be knocked around by winds and tides.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says the salvage operations could take weeks and be one of the most complex and difficult ones in Queensland's—if not Australia's—maritime history.

Now the government is considering whether the use of marine pilots should be compulsory in the Great Barrier Reef area as the number of ships carrying coal and gas exports to China has increased.

"I suspect that this incident will give even sharper focus to whether or not permanent pilots should be in that area."

It's said the vessel was 15 kilometers away from where it should have been. But Australian maritime laws do not call for compulsory pilots on vessels traversing the passage between the outer reef and the Queensland coastline.

Bligh said the ship's owners, the Cosco Group, China's largest shipping company, could be fined more than 1 million Australian dollars and its captain 220,000 dollars.

For CRI, I'm Chen Feng.