Qld: High hopes for refloat of grounded vessel

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2001
Qld: High hopes for refloat of grounded vessel

BRISBANE, Aug 2 AAP - A tourist catamaran which today grounded on the Great Barrier
Reef is expected to float free on the 10pm high tide.

The 35-metre Reef Odyssey carrying 13 passengers and seven crew on a four-day cruise
ran aground shortly before 11am (AEST) on Hardy Reef, 75km north-east of Airlie Beach
in north Queensland.

A Queensland Transport spokesman said there was no damage to the vessel, no one was
injured and there was no risk of pollution.

A spokeswoman for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) which administers
the reef, said the vessel hit at low speed and damage to coral was expected to be minimal.

If the skipper of the Reef Odyssey was found to be negligent, he and the boat's owners
may be prosecuted, the spokeswoman said.

Cathy Kerr, owner of Airlie Beach-based reef cruise company Barefoot Cruises, said
the incident was nothing unusual.

"It's just something that happened when the tide was going out and instead of dragging
and motoring off the reef and damaging it, they just float off with the tide," Ms Kerr
told AAP.

"Boats hit the bottom once a week here."

The vessel, which has overseas and Australian tourists on board, is expected to return
to the mainland tomorrow.

AAP rad/sc/pjo/sb

KEYWORD: CATAMARAN NIGHTLEAD

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