http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/04/science/AP-AS-Australia-Coal-Carrier.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
A coal carrying ship ran aground on Australia's Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Gladstone, a port I was in not too long ago. The area on land was overrun with mines and factories, the sea was full of coal-carriers waiting for the dollar to go down before they off loaded their supplies, and our boat was covered in a layer of grime from all the soot in the air after only one day. This, of course Chinese, ship is leaking oil on what is an already dying ecosystem. I read this article with my jaw dropped and scratching my head...is it really that hard to stay in the shipping lane? They are already promoting a practice that is harming our environment, why make it worse by ramming full speed into a World Heritage site in a protected area where shipping is illegal? I don't even want to know what they were doing and I hope with all of my heart the ship does not break up and leak any further.
