Taskforce Tackles Wrecks
Queensland Government
Maritime Safety Queensland
Over a long period of time Maritime Safety Queensland and the
boating public have kept a watchful eye on a growing problem plaguing
our rivers, creeks and bays.
At best, this problem is an ugly blight on our waterways. At worst, it
is a risk to life, limb and property for mariners and to the environment.
I am referring to the growing number of unseaworthy vessels left
by their owners to decay on the water and potentially pollute it with oil,
diesel or other toxic substances.
Where Maritime Safety Queensland has been legally empowered to
do so, and only when owners have failed to accept their responsibilities
for their vessels, we have acted to remove some of these vessels from
Queensland’s waterways. We’ve done this if we deemed the safety
or pollution risks they posed to be unacceptable, and where practical
pursued their owners through the courts for reimbursement of the costs
we incurred.
Let’s be clear – the ultimate responsibility for maintaining a vessel
lies with the owner. That applies to the whole lifecycle of a vessel,
including disposal of it at the end of its life.
However, for a variety of reasons, the evidence is that a growing
number of owners are failing in that responsibility. In July of this year
the State Government reacted to this reality by announcing a “War on
Wrecks” and the creation of a government and industry taskforce backed
by a $20 million fighting fund to tackle the issue.
The taskforce, chaired by Ms Kim Richards MP, Member for
Redlands, is supported by Maritime Safety Queensland. It has been
tasked with removing as many wrecks from Queensland’s waters as
possible, within the limits of the fighting fund, while looking into the
causes of the problem with a view to recommending ways of reducing
the number of wrecks littering our waterways in the future.
As at early December, 2018 there were 263 confirmed unseaworthy
vessels dotted around Queensland, with a further 87 regarded as being at
risk of becoming unseaworthy.
Getting unseaworthy vessels out of our waters is not an overnight
proposition. Legal avenues to persuade owners to discharge their
responsibilities, or to obtain for ourselves the powers to do so, must
be travelled down and that takes time. Once it becomes clear we can
legally act to manage disposal of a vessel, tendering processes and the
engagement of contractors also add to a timeframe that is measured in
months rather than days or weeks.
That said, since the Taskforce got underway 55 wrecks have been
removed from the water, while contracts are in place to remove around
60 more.
We expect to be really ramping up our removal activities in early
2019 while, in the meantime, the War on Wrecks Taskforce is working
through a public consultation program that has already included meetings
in Port Douglas, Yeppoon and Southport. The taskforce is considering
submissions and comments it has received at those meetings and via its
mailbox at [email protected], and will continue doing so
until it finalises a report to the state government due in February 2019.
One further public consultation meeting will be held by the
Taskforce, in Redlands on 1 February, 2019. Details are yet to be
finalised, but they will be announced on Maritime Safety Queensland’s
website www.msq.qld.gov.au.
If you would like to make a contribution to winning the War on
Wrecks – either by reporting a derelict vessel or one at risk of becoming
derelict, or by contributing your ideas to the taskforce for long term
solutions, please contact us at the above mailbox.
Similarly, we invite you to contact us at that mailbox if you own a
vessel in the water that you can no longer maintain. While you will be
responsible for the costs of remedying the problem, we might be able to
discuss ways to keep those costs down.
Let’s work together to keep Queensland’s coastline free of wrecks!
Vsheet -
MARCH 2019
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