Douglas Shoal Environmental Remediation Project
Visit this special place
One of the places a person should visit at The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is Douglas Shoal. What a perfect place to connect with nature; what a beauty it is!
Being a world heritage and one of Australia’s pride, Douglas Shoal is located in the sea country of the Gooreng Gooreng, Byellee Gurang and Tarebilang Bunda people. It is approximately ninety kilometres (90Km) off the north-eastern coast of Australia, near the major port of Gladstone, and forty-five kilometres (45Km) northwest of Heron Island.
Douglas Shoal is relatively large in size, with no height variations because it is flat-topped, which makes it perfect for sightseeing. It is ideal for sightseeing because you could cover a great distance with a view at a spot. It also supports fish life in great quantity and serves as a habitat for protected species like sea snakes and turtles. In spite of the damage caused to the shoal by the Shen Neng 1 vessel, some parts of the shoal still remain undamaged.
These undamaged parts of the shoal are covered by diverse algae species that are mixed with soft and hard corals.
What a sad month it was in April 2010 in the history of The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park! A bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1, near Rockhampton, ran aground on Douglas Shoal, with no way out. Sadly, the vessel remained on the shoal for about ten days before floating again. What a mess and unrest it caused in the shoal.
The impact was massive, and the destruction was extensive, covering about forty-two hectares (42ha) of the Douglas shoal. As a result of this event, Douglas Shoal happens to be the site of the largest damage caused by a ship’s collision with a ground surface underwater known as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Arguably, this event could be the largest reef-related collision in the world. Also, the bottom of the ship suffered significant damages and paint loss during the collision.
In a bid to return Douglas Shoal to how it was before, The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority established the Douglas Shoal Remediation Project in the last quarter of 2016. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, was able to settle out of court with the owners of the park and insurers of Shen Neng 1 by mutual consent, and The Great Barrier, Marine Park Authority, was awarded $35 million to clean up the site.
The project was proposed to focus on the shoal’s natural recovery by addressing the contamination caused by the ship’s anti-fouling paint and the rubble created as the ship collided across the shoal. Unfortunately, contamination and rubble continue to hinder natural recovery, even after ten years of the occurrence of collision incidents. Therefore, the probable and suitable remedial option is the removal of rubble and contamination, even though the project remains open to considering non-removal methods.
Due to how delicate the project is, considering that it will have significant effects on the park’s environment, the project has been designed and planned to adopt innovative technology to meet the highest environmental standards. Hopefully, Douglas Shoal will be green again after this remediation project.
