Shipping plan builds on strong protections The North-East Shipping Management Plan, launched today by the Federal governments, ensures continued stringent regulations for shipping in northern Australian waters. Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Michael Roche said the plan, developed over the past two years, build on the stringent regulations already in place to manage shipping. ‘This plan will manage the shipping throughout the Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and the Coral Sea over the next two decades,’ Mr Roche said. ‘Ports and shipping have already been operating along our coastline since the 1800s and are a vital link for our exports and imports, and therefore, of our state’s, and our country’s economic prosperity. ‘Management of our shipping operations are world-class and include 24-hour surveillance by REEFVTS, much like air traffic control for aircraft, ensuring the reef environment remains well protected. ‘The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) are the appropriate authorities for continuing to manage and regulate shipping activities.’ The North East Shipping Management Plan is a comprehensive joint plan that has been put together by Federal and Queensland agencies, with input from stakeholders such as QRC. The Plan includes proposals for further areas for consideration of pilotage requirements as traffic levels warrant and for use of emerging ship-tracking technology to provide early alerting of ship breakdowns. ‘Sadly, despite the comprehensive efforts being put in across all stakeholder groups, activist groups such as Greenpeace claim that the Great Barrier Reef is set to become a super shipping highway for 10,000 coal ships by 2020,’ Mr Roche said. ‘The Fight for the Reef campaign spearheaded by WWF claim there will be 7,000 coal ships by 2020. ‘Both predictions are wildly wrong.’ Mr Roche said the facts are that the latest AMSA projections set out in the North East Shipping Management Plan - using trade forecasts from the federal government’s commodity forecaster, the Bureau of Energy Economics - put the true figures at 2,450 coal ships and 500 LNG vessels by 2020. ‘Far from being a shipping superhighway, that is just eight coal and gas ships a day calling at ports in the Reef region,’ Mr Roche said. ‘The activists have been using their over-inflated figures as a scare-mongering tactic, in part of their bigger campaign to shut down the coal and gas industries. ‘This plan, along with other comprehensive work that has already been carried out, will ensure the protection and health of our majestic Great Barrier Reef. QRC and its members will look at the plan in detail and we look forward to being involved in its implementation.’ amsa.gov.au/forms-and-publications/Publications/AMSA439.pdf
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 03:38:35 +0000
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