MV Pacific Adventurer owner liable for enviro disaster

by Jeni Bone on 5 Apr 2009 The owner of a ship that leaked 30 tonnes of oil into Moreton Bay, off Brisbane, during a cyclone is likely to face prosecution.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced the State would seek compensation for the cost of the clean-up of the worst environmental disaster to impact the state, now affecting its tourism, charter operators and commercial fishing fleet.

“The oil spill off Moreton Bay is a very serious threat to our environment,” she said. “We will be fully investigating this incident. If there has been any breach of environmental requirements we will not hesitate to prosecute those concerned.”

The Hong Kong-registered 185m container ship, MV Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers of ammonium nitrate overboard during cyclone Hamish.

One of the containers reportedly pierced its oil tank, spilling up to 30 tonnes of oil and creating a 10km oil slick that contaminated Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay island beaches.

Ms Bligh said the ship's owner would pay for the clean-up.

“Whether a prosecution can be secured or not, we will certainly be pursuing compensation for the cost of this cleanup,” she said in Brisbane.

“If there is any requirement to prosecute anyone then we won't hesitate to do so.”

Ms Bligh said the investigation would include allegations that the Environmental Protection Agency was too slow to respond to the oil leak.

“The investigation will look at all of the events surrounding this incident,” she said.

“It will not only go to the ship operators but also look at any response from government that needs to be considered.”

The MV Adventurer encountered 6m waves and gale force winds off the coast off south-east Queensland during cyclone Hamish on March 11, which sent cargo hurtling around its upper deck. The crew have reported the captain, Bernardino Santos, locked into the same course and maintained speed, pushing into the blackness of the early hours of that Wednesday morning as the ship followed the ocean side of Moreton Island northwards.

Head-on, they said, the 23,700-tonne ship could have powered through the waves.

But the skipper decided to turn the vessel sideways into the full force of the pounding seas.

A spokesman for the MV Pacific Adventurer's owners, Swire Shipping, said such stormy conditions 'would not normally trouble' a vessel the size of the Pacific Adventurer. The boat lost 31 containers of fertiliser, each holding 30 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, about 11kms east of Cape Moreton. All containers have been located by the Navy ships, HMAS Yarra and HMAS Norman.

The oil washed up on beaches along the Sunshine Coast and on Bribie and Moreton Islands. The ongoing cleanup has so far cost $15 million.