13 Feb 2019

Fears for marine protected area after ship grounds in Solomons

From , 4:03 pm on 13 February 2019

Environmentalists fear the grounding of a ship off Rennell Island in the Solomons could bring more damage to a marine protected area.

The MV Solomon Trader hit a reef in Kangava Bay off Rennell Island just over a week ago as it was loading bauxite from a nearby mine.

Chris Bone of OceansWatch Solomon Islands told Sally Round the reef is likely to be damaged and comes on top of bauxite spillage in the bay and coral bleaching.

The MV Solomon Trader on the reef

The MV Solomon Trader on the reef Photo: Supplied