Great Barrier Reef May Need 20 Years to Recover from Ship Crash

(April 13) -- A Chinese freighter that ran aground and leaked oil on the Great Barrier Reef ruined pristine coral for almost two miles, and damage from the crash is so severe that it could take 20 years for marine life to recover, Australian authorities said today.

The coal carrier Shen Neng 1 slammed into the reef -- the world's largest -- on April 3. The coral shredded part of the ship's hull, which leaked about three tons of oil. Emergency crews treated the oil spill with chemical sprays, and it doesn't appear to have damaged wildlife.

Queensland government / AFP / Getty Images

The Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng 1 rammed the Great Barrier Reef in Australia earlier this month, causing an oil leak. Authorities have arrested the ship's captain and chief officer.

But the initial crash and aftermath did -- leaving a scar nearly two miles long and 820 feet wide across the barrier reef, which is listed as a U.N. World Heritage site.

Crews had to pump heavy fuel from the ship to lighten it before it could float off the coral reef. That process took at least three days, and the boat spent 10 days total sitting atop the reef. During that time, tides and currents shifted the boat, crushing coral and smearing potentially toxic paint over rare marine species.

"This is by far the largest ship grounding scar we have seen on the Great Barrier Reef to date," David Wachenfeld, who works with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, told reporters.

Divers were sent down to examine the damage, and their findings were explained today at a news conference in Sydney.

In some areas, "all marine life has been completely flattened and the structure of the shoal has been pulverized by the weight of the vessel," Wachenfeld said. His comments were carried by several news agencies.

It will be at least another week before the full extent of the damage is known, but the area's recovery could take up to two decades, Wachenfeld said. Environmental experts with the World Wildlife Fund echoed that assessment.

"Obviously when a reef has had this amount of impact, it does change the structure of the reef," WWF spokesman Richard Leck said.

One of scientists' biggest worries is the chemical composition of the ship's paint. It's common for large ships' hulls to be coated with special paint that prevents shellfish and other wildlife from attaching and growing on them. Some types of paint act simply as a barrier, but others contain chemicals that prevent wildlife from ever growing on them. If that paint is smeared over the Great Barrier Reef, it could poison animals and plants, killing existing ones and preventing others from ever growing there again. Experts are in the process of analyzing the Shen Neng's paint.

The vessel was finally extracted from the reef on Monday, and towed to a nearby island. Australian authorities have said they'll press charges against the ship's owners, because it ran aground in a supposed no-go zone.