MAGDALENE

scrapped

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beached

beached at Chittagong 16.05.14

arrived Scrapyard anchorage

arrived Chittagong anchorage 09.05.14

$1.2m fine for oil spill that polluted port

coal ship that leaked an estimated 72,000 litres of heavy fuel oil into the Port of Newcastle three years ago has been fined $1.2 million after paying $1.7 million in clean-up costs. The NSW Land and Environment Court heard that between 40 and 50 pelicans were "oiled" as a result of the discharge, with 32 going to Taronga Zoo for care and rehabilitation. Oil ran from the southern arm of the Hunter River, where the ship was tied up, to the Stockton spit on the northern arm of the river. While oil was still visible on parts of the shore five weeks after the spill, the court heard that a prompt clean-up by Newcastle Port Corporation minimised the impact and meant there was no permanent damage. The $1.2 million fine was levied against the German owners of the Liberian-registered, german owned MAGDALENE, which tied up at the Kooragang No. 4 wharf operated by Port Waratah Coal Services on August 25, 2010. The court heard that a 15-centimetre rust hole between two adjoining tanks allowed the fuel oil to leak into the ballast tank, which was being discharged. No one on watch on the vessel noticed the leak, which was picked up by PWCS more than four hours after it began. Source: The Herald