We know one thing for sure about the Chinese freighter that crashed into the Great Barrier Reef--the mere fact it was even in the area was flat-out inexcusable. According to Adam Nicholson, a spokesman for Queensland's maritime safety unit, the ship was a staggering 17 miles off course.
Nicholson said the ship's captain had a 10-mile-wide channel to navigate through in an area where pilots aren't needed -- a relatively wide open section of sea, 70 kilometers (43 miles) off shore and away from the larger mass of coral most people associate with the Great Barrier Reef.
"He got 15 nautical miles (17.3 miles) off course, which is just outrageous," said Nicholson, who likened it to a car veering off a 2-mile wide road.
"We have thousands of boats moving in that same space every year and nothing has ever happened like this," he said.
"Outrageous" is an understatement. There is no credible reason for a ship to be that far off course. The picture I got in my mind was of the Exxon Valdez spill. For those who don't recall, the ship went outside of the shipping lane and never made it back.
Small wonder that Queensland's Premier, Anna Bligh, is hopping mad.
Ms Bligh says she has been talking to Maritime Safety over the spill and says aerial dispersant spray has helped break up some of the oil.
But she says she cannot believe the ship was so far off course and sailing through a restricted area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
She says charges could be laid against the shipping company owners as well as the ship's captain.
"This ship is in Australian waters and the investigation will be undertaken by Commonwealth authorities," she said.
"I think the book should be thrown at this organisation. This is a very delicate part of one of the most precious marine environments on earth and there are safe, authorised shipping channels and that's where this ship should have been.
"This is an extremely unusual event."
Bligh told the ABC's AM (roughly the equivalent of NPR's Morning Edition) that the captain and the ship's owner could face fines of up to AU$ 1 million ($921,000 American).
So even if not a drop of oil gets spilled on the Reef, whoever owns this ship might have an awful lot of explaining to do.