Chinese bulk carrier runs aground on GBR

[ScubaBrett22]

The Captain of the Ship Mr. Wang is more worried about his crews diet then the Reef what is wrong with this guy? Is he not disturbed by what he has done and what major ecological devastation he caused and or might create??

Mr. Wang said

“They need some more water because the rescue team is consuming the water and food,” Mr. Wang reportedly said. “They need that. That is a problem at the moment.”

Updated 1 hour ago
Update on Great Barrier Reef Oil Spill – Officials Suspect Crew Fatigue

Barrier Reef Oil Spill RightFielders Women in Sports

 

[gee13]

Would like to know what extent does this cover the role of maritime police in policing our waters. This must be the 2nd environmental disaster incident in Qld in recent times! How many times does it take for the govt to wake up?

 

[sydney-diver]

Would like to know what extent does this cover the role of maritime police in policing our waters. This must be the 2nd environmental disaster incident in Qld in recent times! How many times does it take for the govt to wake up?

Hopefully in the very least they'll put in place better surveillance so ships stay in the shipping lane. There's talk of requiring some sort of locator beacon on every ship, not sure if that's practical or not. Something similar to air traffic control radar maybe?

 

[Wookie]

Hopefully in the very least they'll put in place better surveillance so ships stay in the shipping lane. There's talk of requiring some sort of locator beacon on every ship, not sure if that's practical or not. Something similar to air traffic control radar maybe?

IMO requires certain vessels to carry AIS (Automatic Identification System) onboard. Baltimore harbor map is here (PopularWireless Maryland AIS Ship Watcher's Map). I sure that there is a similar service for Sydney, and coverage can be extended anywhere vhf radio can get to. Available information includes: vessel name, course, heading, position, where bound, ETA, type of vessel, unique identifier, draft, length, beam. Some have other information. The ship on the GBR is required by IMO regulations to carry such a transponder. Now, who might be tasked with monitoring it?

 

[burna]

Hopefully in the very least they'll put in place better surveillance so ships stay in the shipping lane. There's talk of requiring some sort of locator beacon on every ship, not sure if that's practical or not. Something similar to air traffic control radar maybe?

It's already available.

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

 

[sydney-diver]

It's already available.

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

Interesting site, doesn't look like all vessels are displayed though, given the ship is grounded off Great Keppel and there's currently at least 2 salvage tugs and an tanker there at the moment as well as the grounded ship which aren't displayed. Looks to me like it's only showing vessels near ports?

 

[burna]

Yeah, there was a oil tanker just to the north of the Douglas Shoal at the time I posted the link following a course that I guess the coal ship ought to have been.

Looks like it is out of range now.

How the vessels positions are recorded?

The system is based on AIS (Automatic Identification System). As from December 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board, which transmits their position, speed and course, among some other static information, such as vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.
References:
IMO: Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)
Wikipedia: Automatic Identification System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
US Coast Guard: Automatic Identification System Overview - USCG Navigation Center

What is AIS?

AIS is initially intended to help ships avoid collisions, as well as assisting port authorities to better control sea traffic. AIS transponders on board vessels include a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, which collects position and movement details. It includes also a VHF transmitter, which transmits periodically this information on two VHF channels (frequencies 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz – old VHF channels 87 & 88) and make this data available to the public domain. Other vessels or base stations are able to receive this information, process it using special software and display vessels locations on a chart plotter or on a computer.

What is the range AIS covers?

Normally, vessels with an AIS receiver connected to an external antenna placed on 15 meters above sea level, will receive AIS information within a range of 15-20 nautical miles. Base stations at a higher elevation, may extend the range up to 40-60 nm, even behind remote mountains, depending on elevation, antenna type, obstacles around antenna and weather conditions. The most important factor for better reception is the elevation of the base station antenna. The higher, the better. We have seen vessels 200 nm away, with a small portable antenna placed on an island mountain on 700 meters altitude! Our base stations cover fully a range of 40 miles and periodically receive information from some more distant vessels.

 

[sydney-diver]

Yeah, there was a oil tanker just to the north of the Douglas Shoal at the time I posted the link following a course that I guess the coal ship ought to have been.

Looks like it is out of range now.

I just found it, due east of Yeppoon on the Douglas Shoal I can currently see the Shen Neng 1, Austral Savor (tug) and Pacific Responder (tug). Also found this

Shen Neng 1's tracking device was on the blink before it ran aground on Barrier Reef | Courier Mail

Funny that the tracking device wasn't working at the time but is now? Nice graphic of the proper and actual tracks - quite obvious why you might want to take a shortcut

 

[burna]

.....

 

[sydney-diver]

Breaking news, the Shen Neng 1 has apparently just been refloated and there are no signs of further oil leaks.

Salvage crews refloat coal carrier