Environmental agencies and government officials have finally agreed on something:  the stranded Chinese coal ship leaking oil near the Great Barrier Reef is a ticking time bomb.  The Chinese shipping concern COSCO, owners of Shenzen Energy Group, are responsible for yet another potential environmental catastrophe.  Their freighter, Shen Neng I, was traveling at full speed and miles off course when it hit the famed Great Barrier Reef of Australia.  Now, the gigantic coal ship is threatening to crack up completely, in the process spilling 975 tons of fuel oil and 65,000 tons of coal into the very sensitive, fragile coral environment.

Yeah, that kind of sounds like a ticking time bomb to me, too.

COSCO, or the Chinese Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, has a history of these sorts of screw-ups.  In 2007, the company was responsible for a big oil spill in San Francisco Bay.  Last year, they pulled the same trick in Norway.  As a result of the incident, Australia is considering banning shipping near the Great Barrier Reef, but the ship was miles off course anyway, so there’s no doubt they probably would’ve hit the reef anyway.

Tags: Great Barrier Reef, Australia, COSCO, Shen Neng I, oil tanker hits Great Barrier Reef, sinking coal ship leaking oil, oil spill, Shenzhen Energy Group

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