Aussie authorities identify oil spill vessel, considering prosecution

Australian authorities will consider prosecuting a foreign ship for leaking up to 15 tonnes of oil in Australia's Great Barrier Reef in 2015 following a year-long hunt.

Australian maritime investigators on Thursday claimed they had identified the ship allegedly responsible for the spill off Cape Upstart in northern Queensland in July 2015, triggering a 1.5 million Australian dollar (1.13 million U.S. dollar) clean up and a 12 month investigation into 17 suspects.

"The challenge was then to track down the individual ships, many of which were on international voyages, check on-board records, interview crews and take oil samples for elimination testing against samples from the spill,"Queensland state Ports Minister Mark Bailey said in a statement that declined to name the vessel.

"It was a difficult investigation as the ship believed to be responsible is foreign registered with a crew of foreign nationals.

"This is an extremely complex legal process involving both Australian and international maritime law and we don't want to jeopardise the case by identifying the suspect vessel while the evidence is being fully considered."

Authorities will now consider prosecution of the vessel and its crew for causing damage to the fragile ecosystem that took two weeks to clean up, killing two birds and requiring a turtle to be rehabilitated over six weeks due to oil exposure.

The Queensland government has vowed it would "relentlessly pursue anyone wilfully or negligently polluting our coastal waters, especially the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park area, and this investigation demonstrates our resolve,"Bailey said.

If convicted, the vessel's owner faces both Queensland state and Australian federal fines of up to 17 million Australian dollars (12.79 million U.S. dollars.) Authorities will also seek repayment of the clean-up costs. Endit