Good grief, the reef!

With the recent grounding of the Shen Neng off the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and the oil spill off Moreton Island still fresh in our memories, it would be an understatement to say the Maritime Safety Queensland have had their work cut out for them. In both of these instances it is fair to say that we've been very luck in terms of damage.

That's not to say there haven't been some terrible consequences on our marine environments, only that it could have been far worse, particularly in the case of the Shen Neng grounding. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the political arena Aust v China, not to mention the courts!

The threat posed to the Great Barrier Reef enraged many an Australian. The environmental threat alone was quite dire and the potential economic threat to Queensland Tourism could have put an already struggling economy into a tail spin. So what can they do to prevent these things from happening again? From all reports it's a well know short cut.

Maritime authorities are already experiencing staffing and funding issues and appropriate technology is expensive. Will these events convince the powers that be that it's worth a spend? How will the move to a single national jurisdiction impact on capacity and operations? Consider the real long term benefits and the value of protecting our marine environments against the spend and I am certain we will be way ahead.

PS: Congratulations to MSQ and national bodies for a fabulous response effort on the refloating of Shen Neng.

Samantha Ford
Managing Director
Adarna Consulting Pty Ltd