Late Saturday afternoon, a Chinese coal freighter ran aground on a section of the Great Barrier Reef.
The Shen Neng 1 crashed into the reef at full speed a few hours after leaving the port of Gladstone, Australian authorities said. The ship, which was nine miles outside its authorized shipping lane, was hauling 72,000 tons of coal and had 1,000 tons of bunker fuel aboard.
Not surprisingly, there were immediate fears of an oil leak near the Reef. Both CNN and Australia's ABC already report oil leaking out, though according to the ABC the oil isn't spreading.
The bigger question is how that ship got so far off course in the first place. Australia doesn't take threats to the reef lightly.
Update #1 BlueSue mentions in the comments that ships traveling in the Reef are allowed to stay on autopilot. Incomprehensible--I can't think of a parallel situation in the States.
Update #2Unenergy mentions in the comments that there's another worry besides an oil spill--the ship could break apart, spilling 65,000 tons of coal into the reef.