Sydney: Effective July 2011 all vessels voyaging along the Great Barrier Reef's southern fringes will be tracked, a move announced over the weekend in response to the grounding of the coal carrier Shen Neng 1.
Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese announced that ships in the southern part of the reef marine park would have to regularly report their location and route to authorities. This would be backed up by radio and satellite tracking of ships to improve safety and further protect one of the country's most precious environmental assets, he said.
The new rules effectively extend requirements that apply to ships in the northern part of the reef park to a large area that runs roughly from Mackay to Bundaberg and extends more than 100 kilometres east of the Queensland coastline. [19/04/10]
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