A ship owner and his company have been ordered to pay more than $36,000 in fines and legal costs following the running aground of a ship off Rainbow Beach in 2013.
On Monday, TD Le, owner of TD Le and Sons, did not appear before the Brisbane magistrate Judith Daley to take part in what was expected to be two-day hearing. Despite the non-appearance of the defendant, the case went ahead.
Prosecutor Anthony Loudon, Department of Transport and on behalf of Marine Safety Queensland, told the court that a fishing ship owned by Mr. Le’s company ran aground on a sandbar in November of 2013 after its electronic steering became inoperable.
Mr. Loudon said, “Despite warnings from a seasoned fisherman, the skipper decided to switch to manual steering and tried to move the trawler, called Moray, towards safety. The ship hit a sandbar and fell on its side during high tide, leaking about 6800 litres of diesel into the ocean”.
Mr. Loudon assured that. “There was no environmental damage from the spill. However, he said the defendant and his company did not make any attempts to remove the ship and they did not bother telling authorities about the accident. It cost about $152,000 to recover the vessel and to keep it in storage where it remains three years after the incident”.
After finding TD Le and Son and Mr. Le guilty of three charges, Ms. Daley ordered them to pay a combined $35,000 in fines and $1500 in legal costs.
The judge also charged the company and Mr. Le for failing to provide written notice of a marine accident and he was further charged with being the owner of the ship and for obtaining the required insurance for salvage costs.
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Chinchilla News
