Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority News

A new high-speed low-draft landing craft Island Guardian has been delivered to the Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program in Australia.The new 21-meter vessel has been custom-designed by Incat Crowther and built by Norman Wright & Sons to enhance island protected area management, research, incident response and facilitate more efficient management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.The Great Barrier Reef Joint Field Management Program is delivered jointly by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service…

Australia’s lead management agency for the Great Barrier Reef will receive a $124 million funding boost over the next 10 years from the Turnbull Government. The funding commitment for the Townsville-based Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is great news for the North Queensland region and Townsville, and follows the signing of Australia’s first City Deal for Townsville earlier this month. Frydenberg said the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which has been managing this acclaimed World Heritage Area for more than 40 years, will receive an additional $34.1 million over four years from 2016-17, and $15 million each year from 2020-21.

Australia on Monday reached a A$39.3 million ($29.66 million) out-of-court settlement with the owners of a Chinese coal carrier that ran aground in 2010 on the Great Barrier Reef. The settlement, dismissed by an environmental group as not enough, is less than a third of what the Australian government was seeking from the ship's owner - Shenzhen Energy Transport Co - for remediation costs after the 225-metre long Shen Neng 1 ran aground on the reef's Douglas Shoal. The fully-laden carrier was en route to China when it sailed outside the shipping lane and ran aground on April 3, 2010. Anti-fouling paint that peeled off the ship contained a highly toxic component, tributyltin, that is now banned from use.

The Royal Australian Air Force has confirmed that aircraft wreckage found in waters south of Cairns is that of RAAF Number 11 Squadron Catalina A24-25 that crashed on 28 February 1943, killing all 11 personnel on board. Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Leo Davies AO, CSC, praised the work of all those involved in locating and confirming the identity of the aircraft. “The discovery of this Number 11 Squadron Catalina is important for Air Force and our ongoing commitment to account for our missing personnel from past conflicts; currently 3124 from the Second World War and 18 from Korea. The wreckage was first discovered 56 kilometres south of Cairns in 35 metres of water by Cairns diver Kevin Coombs in 2013…

Australia has ordered a ban on dumping dredge waste on most of the Great Barrier Reef, the environment minister Greg Hunt stated, as part of a push to cease the UN declaring the website in danger. The atmosphere minister has given orders for new regulations to be put in place for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, to ban them from issuing dumping permits for the reef. This has been a dramatic change in the way the reef is managed, said a statement from Hunt. He added that it was ending 100 years of practice, 14 years of Queensland Labor practice, six years of federal practice, and his party doing what Labor never did. The move makes good on Hunt’s commitment to the Unesco World Heritage Committee, which has threatened to list the reef as in danger.

A report from Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority finds the greatest risks to the Reef are still climate change, land-based run-off, coastal development, some remaining impacts of fishing and illegal fishing and poaching. Even with the recent management initiatives to reduce threats and improve resilience, the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is poor, has worsened since 2009 and is expected to further deteriorate, the reports says. The report, published every five years, is required under Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 (section 54) and aims to provide a regular and reliable means of assessing reef health and management in an accountable and transparent way.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN), in conjunction with the U.S. Navy (USN), has successfully located four unexploded bombs dropped by USN Harrier aircraft in the lead up to Exercise Talisman Saber on July 16, 2013. The RAN and USN are now working together to retrieve the ordnance. The Royal Australian Navy minehunter HMAS Gascoyne located all the ordnance on August 16, 2013. The USN and the RAN confirmed the coordinates of the ordnance through survey operations earlier this week and are currently working with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to commence the recovery of the ordnance. RAN Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Ash Power, said the ordnance was found in a challenging underwater environment using HMAS Gascoyne’s variable depth sonar.

Incat Crowther and Marine Engineering Consultants (MEC) announced commencement on the construction of a 24-meter long-range Catamaran Patrol Vessel to work in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA). The GBRWHA is jointly managed by Queensland’s Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing (DNPRSR) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). Incat Crowther submitted a concept design to competitive tender, characterized by its consideration for its operational environment and by the application of several new technologies.

As of July 27, 11.45 a.m., the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is coordinating a maritime casualty response in the Coral Sea for the fully loaded bulk coal carrier Ocean Emperor, in liaison with Maritime Safety Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The Ocean Emperor is currently situated approximately 130 kilometres east of Cooktown off the outer Great Barrier Reef, and is drifting slowly westwards towards the reef. As the ship has broken down and drifted several times over the last few weeks, she was being escorted out of the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by the tug PB Karori. The ship most recently broke down north east of Bougainville Reef at 2:00am (AEST) Monday 26 July.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) agents have arrested a ships Master in Gladstone following allegations that he had operated a ship in a protected zone within the Great Barrier Reef. On April 12, 2004, a private vessel operator allegedly saw the ship in the protected zone and reported it to Gladstone Vessel Traffic Service. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) was alerted to the sighting and they in turn advised the AFP. About 2:00 pm on April 14, federal agents and GBRMPA officers boarded the 17,000 ton bulk alumina carrier when it berthed at Gladstone. Federal agents will allege the ship was operated in the Capricorn Bunker Group area between Fitzroy Reef and Lamont Reef on or about 12 April 2004. The particular area of ocean is zoned General Use 'B'.

Chairman of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Mr Edward (Ted) Anson AM, welcomed the Government’s announcement yesterday of new appointments for the AMSA Board. The Acting Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Senator Ian Campbell, had announced the appointment of Captain John Paine as Deputy Chairman. “Captain Paine has had a long and distinguished career in the Australian maritime industry, both as a senior executive and a ship’s master. He brings to this position a high degree of business acumen as well as solid practical experience in ship operations that will continue to be of immense value to the AMSA Board,’’ Mr Anson said. Captain Paine replaces the outgoing Deputy Chair Mrs. Sarina Bratton, who has served with distinction on the AMSA board since 1996.