Coal ships and the Great Barrier Reef are a recipe for disaster says Greenpeace

Sydney, 16 February 2015: Greenpeace says the weekend arrest of Taiwanese captain for steering his coal ship through the reef without a pilot shows that while there's coal ships going through the Great Barrier Reef there is the risk of serious accidents.

"The more coal ships we have traveling through the Great Barrier Reef, the greater the risk" said Greenpeace Reef Campaigner Shani Tager.

"We saw how disastrous veering off course can be for the Reef with the Shen Neng 1 crashed into the reef in 2010 and today's news shows that coal ships are still gambling with the future of our reef."

"Fundamentally accidents happen and shortcuts like these put the reef at risk."

"Let's be clear - expanding coal ports such as Abbot Point will not only mean more dredging but more coal ships."

"Adani's proposed coal terminal will result in an additional 560 ships traveling through the Great Barrier Reef."

"If the Abbot Point coal port expansion proceeds, it will simply be a disaster waiting to happen."

Video footage and photographs of Abbot Point terminal available here: www.greenpeacemedia.org
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For images, interviews or more information, contact: Shani Tager, 0427 914 070