Marine pilots have joined green groups in calling for a review of shipping routes to avoid disaster in the Great Barrier Reef.
Bulk carrier ID Integrity lost power off the far north Queensland coast on Friday, and drifted close to Shark Reef over the weekend.
It passed safely over the reef and will likely be towed to Townsville on Monday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority says.
Australian Reef Pilots CEO Simon Meyjes says it’s the third incident in the area in the past month.
The company is the nation’s biggest firm of reef pilots, providing expert local knowledge in places like the World Heritage-listed reef.
He says mandatory pilotage areas should be expanded and the emergency response improved as ship traffic increases.
“I’m not at all comfortable with the fact that single emergency response vessel on the northeast coast was actually on location in the Torres Strait,” he said.
“It took two days to mobilise that ship and get it to intercept the ID Integrity.
Mr Meyjes said a review should consider keeping ships within a designated channel inside the reef and with pilots, to help keep them safe.
“Oil companies choose to send their laden tankers outside the reef,” he said.
“It’s a longer route so they burn more fuel to do it, and our view is it’s a more dangerous route.”
Green groups have called for a review of the shipping capacity of the reef as the gas boom increases traffic.
But Premier Campbell Newman doesn’t agree with the argument that the risk of an environmental disaster will increase with the number of ships.
The owner of ID Integrity, Wallem Shipmanagement Limited, says the carrier is being towed to Townsville by three vessels.
The bulk carrier lost power off the far north Queensland coast on Friday, and drifted close to Shark Reef over the weekend.
The company says the carrier no longer poses a danger to Shark Reef or the Great Barrier Reef and is expected to arrive on Wednesday in Townsville.
