Australian authorities signaled their seriousness about protecting the Great Barrier Reef with a court issuing fines Friday for a ship that entered a restricted area a day after a coal carrier ran aground and tore a huge gash in the reef. The South Korean master and two Vietnamese officers of the Panama-flagged MV Mimosa pleaded guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court to breaching the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act on April 4. They were each fined 70,000 Australian dollars ($70,000).

Crew fined for entering restricted reef area. (2010, April 17). The Philippine Star, p. A-26.