Re: Ghost ship
Re: Ghost ship
Ghost ship prowls the gulf
Steven Wardill
25mar06 AN unmanned "ghost ship" was last night drifting in the Gulf of Carpentaria after eluding authorities in one of the prime hotspots for illegal fishing within Australian waters.
The 80m-tanker was believed to be without a crew as it floated 80 nautical miles southwest of Weipa. Customs and Coastwatch authorities only became aware of the ship after being told by local residents in a helicopter who were puzzled at the sight of the tanker in their area.
Customs were not expected to reach the tanker until this morning with the nearest vessel stationed on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.
The mystery tanker has once again exposed the ease with which illegal boats can enter Australia's northern waters, despite the Federal Government's repeated pledge that it is doing all it can to tackle illegal fishing.
Sources last night told
The Courier-Mail the vessel, which is in Commonwealth waters, was first seen at 2.35pm yesterday.
They described it as a "ghost ship" with no one on board after attempts to contact the crew failed. It was not anchored and was drifting.
The ship's name has been painted over and raft boats were missing from the deck.
One source last night said the tanker appeared to have been stripped of fittings and may have even been towed into the area.
The appearance of the tanker came as federal ministers yesterday lauded efforts to crack down on illegal fishing after two Chinese steel-hulled trawlers were captured by the navy and taken to Darwin.
The trawlers were spotted off the Northern Territory coast and Australian Fisheries Management Authority officers found 7000kg of reef fish aboard.
"This apprehension demonstrates the effectiveness of the Australian Government's cross-agency approach to dealing with illegal fishers," Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the Government was doing everything it could to protect valuable fish stocks.
"This is about the defence of Australia and under no circumstances are we going to muck about when it comes to illegal fishing," Dr Nelson said.
However, Opposition customs spokesman Joe Ludwig said Customs Minister Chris Ellison should be forced to fully explain how an 80m tanker went undetected.
"If they can't detect a vessel this size what hope have they got of detecting illegal foreign fishing boats."
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18596152%5E1248,00.html
