Reef damage is inevitable !

Once again we find our Great Barrier reef in danger from a ship adrift with engine room failure.  In this instance, tugs reached it in time and it will be safely towed to port for repair - and that precious coral has survived.  Luck was on our side, but in the long term view, a reef catastrophe seems inevitable.

This weeks near miss is just one of many over recent years and in some cases actual damage has occurred, but of a minor nature.   What must throw a doubt in many people's minds is the surge in new coal mines being developed in northern Queensland and the prediction that shipping through the Great Barrier reef will increase ten fold when that newly mined coal is exported to world markets.

As things stand, ship's masters chart their own course in and out of Australia, within regulations that are supposed to ensure safety.  Most previous accidents have involved human error.  In some cases, economic considerations have persuaded navigators to take a " short cut " and disobey the rules and in others the error can be sheeted home to sheer incompetency.

We need a rule change to ensure that all Barrier Reef sea traffic is in the hands of maritime pilots and that all shipping takes the most direct route to the open sea, irrespective of whether that is the most economical way to clear the reef.    At least a single, well defined traffic route stands a chance of limiting damage to a single section of the reef, rather than having ships travelling at random along it's length.

The other option is to limit coal exports to a single port and thus reduce the number of shipping lanes within the reef.  Reef safety is of vast economic value to Australia as it is one of our best tourist attractions and the cost of bringing new mines into rail access to that single port is part of the price we must pay to keep it pristine and free of damage.

So far, luck has been on our side.    What we need is a legislative approach to bolster that luck with a  clear set of rules to limit potential damage by putting control of ships using the reef in Australian hands.   It's our reef - and those who want to sail in our waters need to obey our rules !