Oops! Queensland Oil Spill Not 30 Tons, But 250 Tons - Bloomberg

[hatrack]

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Swire Shipping, operator of a ship that last week leaked fuel oil, coating beaches in Australia’s Queensland, denied media reports it lied about the amount of fuel lost, which is about 10 times more than initially believed.

The container ship’s officers and the authorities were initially unaware that a second fuel tank had been punctured in the accident, Swire said in an e-mailed statement. The captain of the MV Pacific Adventurer yesterday surrendered his passport to the authorities, Queensland Deputy Premier Paul Lucas said.

The Queensland government yesterday said about 250 metric tons of heavy fuel oil may have been spilled by the ship in a storm, up from initial estimates of between 20 and 30 tons. More than half of the oil-affected areas on two islands and parts of the Sunshine Coast tourist area have been cleaned, Lucas said yesterday.

The accident occurred when 31 containers carrying ammonium nitrate washed overboard in rough seas whipped up by Tropical Cyclone Hamish, piercing the hull of the Pacific Adventurer on the port side. The ship’s officers only discovered a second hole, in the starboard fuel tank, once the vessel had docked in the Brisbane River, Swire, a unit of London-based John Swire & Sons Ltd., said in the March 15 statement.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=af.0d.d.Mbpg&refer=australia

[valerief]

1. It's a shame that meteorologists can't predict bad weather and rough seas.

If they could, the tanker could have detoured.

:sarcasm:

[hatrack]

2. Yes, but they're scientists, and as we all know, "Scientists don't really know . . . "

:eyes:

[valerief]

3. Yes, weather predicting is only a theory.

:sarcasm: