Major Oil Spill
Shen Neng 1
For an archive of media updates that occurred during the Shen Neng 1 oil leak, click here.
On 3 April 2010, the 230 metre-long bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1 left the Port of Gladstone bound for China, carrying 68,000 tonnes of coal as cargo. The Chinese-registered ship was traversing a well known shipping route south of the Douglas Shoal, when it ran hard aground 38 nautical miles east of Great Keppel Island at about 5.30pm. The impact ruptured the ship’s fuel tanks and released approximately four tonnes of fuel oil into surrounding waters.
Courtesy of AMSA
Following an initial assessment of the circumstances, Maritime Safety Queensland (as combat agency) activated National Plan response arrangements. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) immediately mobilised key personnel and airlifted a surveyor onto the vessel to carry out damage assessment. Response crews were activated in Brisbane, Gladstone and Rockhampton. Emergency surveillance aircraft were placed on standby to inspect the scene at first light. Oil booms and skimmers were deployed to contain and recover the oil, and dispersants were applied by light aircraft as soon as practicable.
Professional salvors (Svitzer Salvage) were engaged and boarded the Shen Neng 1 on the morning of 4 April to begin the process of refloating the grounded ship. The initial damage report showed that the main engine room was breached, and the main engine and rudder were both damaged. The action of the sea was causing the ship to move on the reef, creating further damage and increasing the risk of break-up.
Before an attempt could be made to refloat the vessel, oil had to be transferred internally from vulnerable tanks to more secure tanks, to stabilise the ship and its cargo and minimise the risk of further oil spilling into the water.
Following the successful internal transfer, large 200-metre lengths of containment boom were placed adjacent to the grounded Shen Neng 1, as an important pollution prevention measure before oil could be pumped off the ship. In the prevailing weather, external oil transfer was a difficult and complex operation and the safety of all concerned was of the highest priority.
By 10 April, 400 tonnes of fuel oil and oily water had been pumped off the Shen Neng I. Subsequently, Maritime Safety Queensland agreed with a request from the salvors to ‘blow down’ the vessel’s breached tanks with high pressure air to ensure the tanks were clear of oil, before an attempt to lift the grounded vessel commenced. Damage to the ship’s hull caused fuel mixed with seawater to be trapped in hard-to-access tanks, making it difficult to extract all trapped oil. Each tank was sounded and ‘blown down’ separately, with booms in place to contain any oil that may have escaped.
Courtesy of MSQ
Following this process, the Shen Neng I was successfully refloated at 7.48pm on Monday, 12 April, with no loss of oil, and towed to a safe location off Great Keppel Island for further assessment. Inspections by divers showed substantial damage to the bottom hull surrounding the engine room at the stern of the ship, although the ship remained structurally sound overall. Increasingly, adverse weather conditions, with south easterly winds of approximately 25 to 30 knots, prevented extended diving operations and hampered further condition assessments of the hull.
Advice received indicated the ship needed significant repairs and a large amount of coal to be unloaded before it would be safe to tow out of Australian waters. Following appropriate consultation, a decision was made to tow the ship to the Port of Gladstone where appropriate repairs could be conducted. During this operation, tug crews had difficulty keeping lines secured to the ship and five thick towing hawsers parted in the rough conditions.
Due to the poor handling properties of the ship and unfavourable weather, it was considered too great a risk to attempt to enter the Port of Gladstone for repairs. On 30 April, AMSA issued a direction for the ship to move to a safe and protected anchorage between the mainland and Fraser Island in the northern reaches of Hervey Bay.
On 12 May, with the vessel safely at anchor off Hervey Bay, the coal off-loading operation began. One scoop at a time, 19,000 tonnes of coal were transferred to two lighterage vessels, the Clipper Mistral and Johanna C, to bring the Shen Neng I higher in the water and take the strain off the vessel’s damaged hull, in readiness for the long ocean tow. This phase of the response was completed on May 20, ahead of schedule, with no coal lost during the carefully managed off-loading operation.
By 31 May, the Shen Neng 1, towed by a deep sea tug, was on its way back to China, marking the end of a two-month salvage operation.
Story courtesy of Maritime Safety Queensland
Courtesy of MSQ
Courtesy of MSQ
Courtesy of MSQ
Courtesy of MSQ