Tropical Cyclone 18P (Hamish) - March 12th, 2009
"Pacific Adventurer" Cargo
Oil slick on southern Queensland
Tropical Cyclone 18P (Hamish), located approximately 485 nautical miles southeast of Cairns, Australia, has tracked westward at 9 knots over the past 6 hours.
Rough seas from the cyclone caused a container ship to lose 31 of its 50 containers of chemicals off eastern Australia on Wednesday morning, announced maritime officials. The lost containers held 620 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used for fertilizers and explosives.
The ship also lost an unknown amount of fuel, creating an oil slick in the water about 7 nautical miles east of Cape Moreton. The slick is approximately 5.5 kilometers long and 550 meters wide, and will affect the beaches of southern Queensland.
Due to the rough seas, officials have been unable to contain the spill, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); however, they will monitor and clean the slick and search for the lost containers.
Oil slick details
With regards to environmental damage from the chemicals spilled in the bay, an expert from the University of Queensland’s Center of Marine Studies informed the ABC that the ammonium nitrate would not cause serious harm, noting that the only consequence of a similar previous fertilizer leak was a great increase in kelp growth.
However, other university marine experts expressed concern that if the containers leak, such an explosion in algal growth could suffocate all other marine life in Moreton Bay and spread down the Gold Coast.
Tags: 18P Australia Cairns Cape Moreton Chemical Spill Gold Coast Hamish Moreton Bay Oil Spill Pacific Adventurer Queensland Tropical Cyclone | 
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