In the 30 minutes leading up to the grounding, there were no visual cues to warn either the chief mate or the seaman on lookout duty, as to the underwater dangers directly ahead of the ship.
AMSA will be enhancing the nav aids in the area better so that mariners will find it easier.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has advised the ATSB that, as part of a package to improve safe navigation in the Great Barrier Reef, the Authority will be enhancing navigational aids, leveraging off current and anticipated technology, to assist navigation by both pilots and masters and to increase situational awareness in real time.This includes consideration of deploying navigational buoys at Douglas Shoal and Rock Cod Shoal on the route taken by the vessels transiting to and from Gladstone from the north.
The ATSB is satisfied that the proposed action taken by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority adequately addresses this safety issue.
