The master of a Panama-flagged bulk carrier and two sailors were fined US$65,400 each yesterday after straying too close to the Great Barrier Reef, just days after another ship ran aground.
The South Korean and two Vietnamese mariners were arrested last week after the MV Mimosa sailed off course and through a restricted area of the world heritage-listed marine park without permission.
Acting magistrate Scott Luxton fined each of the men A$70,000 (US$65,400) when sentencing them in a court in Townsville in the eastern state of Queensland.
The South Korean master of the ship whose name was listed as Chun Han-gang, 63, and two officers, Tan Thanh Tran, 32, and Van Sang Nguyen, 26, had pleaded guilty to breaching the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act.
The vessel strayed into the World Heritage-listed marine park on April 4, just a day after Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng 1 strayed off a recognized route and hit a shoal, damaging the reef and leaking oil.
Australia’s government has voiced outrage over the crash and vowed stiff punishment. The huge ship was stranded for nine days, gouging a 3km scar in the coral, before salvagers refloated it on Monday.
The master of that ship and a crewmate were arrested and appeared in court charged over the accident on Thursday and were bailed to appear on June 9.
A preliminary investigation into the crash said a “very tired” sailor’s simple navigation errors caused the Chinese ship to run aground.
In months, Lo Yuet-ping would bid farewell to a centuries-old village he has called home in Hong Kong for more than seven decades. The Cha Kwo Ling village in east Kowloon is filled with small houses built from metal sheets and stones, as well as old granite buildings, contrasting sharply with the high-rise structures that dominate much of the Asian financial hub. Lo, 72, has spent his entire life here and is among an estimated 860 households required to move under a government redevelopment plan. He said he would miss the rich history, unique culture and warm interpersonal kindness that defined life in
AERIAL INCURSIONS: The incidents are a reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine’s borders, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Two NATO members on Sunday said that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine, while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day. A drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday as Moscow struck “civilian targets and port infrastructure” across the Danube in Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of National Defense said. It added that Bucharest had deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions. It also said investigations were underway of a potential “impact zone” in an uninhabited area along the Romanian-Ukrainian border. There
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I