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Fri 14 Oct 2011, 22:54 GMT

Shipping firms fined $1.2 million for bunker spill


Shipping companies are fined in connection with Queensland's biggest bunker spill.

Shipping firms Swire Navigation and Bluewind Shipping have been fined in connection with Queensland's biggest bunker spill.

The two companies were each fined $600,000 at the Supreme Court in Brisbane after pleading guilty to disposing of oil in waters off south-east Queensland in 2009.

The bunker spill took place off Australia's Moreton Island on March 11th 2009, when the Hong Kong-flagged Pacific Adventurer was travelling from Newcastle to Brisbane. 31 containers of ammonium nitrate broke loose in rough seas in the wake of Cyclone Hamish and a falling container damaged the ship's hull where the heavy fuel oil was stored, causing the bunker fuel to leak into the open sea.

Following the incident, vessel operator Swire Shipping said that it accepted responsibility in connection with the incident and, after lengthy talks with the Queensland government, reached an agreement in August with Queensland Premier Anna Bligh to make a payment of $A25 million ($21 million) as compensation.

The Pacific Adventurer has since be renamed Pacific Mariner.

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