It now seems that prosecutors have called for the master and two officers of a bulk carrier that allegedly sailed into restricted waters of the Great Barrier Reef to face fines of up to $75,000 each. The 63-year-old South Korean master of the Panama flagged MV Mimosa, Gang Chun Han, and his two officers, ages 26 and 32, both from Vietnam, where charged just last weekend with breaching the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act.

The sailors pleaded guilty and will face sentencing in Townsville Magistrate Court this week. The court heard how the bulk carrier entered the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park on April 4^th via an unidentified shipping route at Flinders Passage off the north Queensland coast. This offense actually occurred just a day after the Shen Neng 1 crashed into Douglas Shoal off the central Queensland coast, damaging the reef and leaking fuel.

Aaron Guilfoyle, who is the Commonwealth Prosecutor, told the court that the men took the illegal route to save time and fuel costs. He argued a fine of $75,000 should be imposed on each of the men. However, the defense solicitor, Gavin Hansen, said that there was no deliberate intention to flout the law, and the protected green zones were not shown on the ship’s navigation charts. The acting Magistrate, Scott Luxton, adjourned the matter for sentencing until 11 am Friday.

It now seems that Australia is having a big problem with people running into their Great Barrier Reef. Experts say that this should be hard to do since the Great Barrier Reef is in restricted waters. However, it appears that some ships are doing this in an attempt to save time and money.