Abbot Point

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Abbot Point
Data
owner North Queensland Bulk Ports Corp.
operator Adani Group
start of building 1981
opening 1984
Port type seaport
Goods handled coal
website www.nqbp.com.au
Geographic information
place At Bowen's
State Queensland
Country Australia
Coal bins and neighboring wetlands from Abbott Point (in the background)
Coal bins and neighboring wetlands from Abbott Point (in the background)
Coordinates 19 ° 52 '59 "  S , 148 ° 4' 59"  O Coordinates: 19 ° 52 '59 "  S , 148 ° 4' 59"  O
Abbot Point (Queensland)
Abbot Point
Location Abbot Point

Abbot Point is an Australian seaport in Queensland specializing in coal shipping .

Geography and plant

Abbot Point is approximately 25 kilometers from Bowen to the southeast and 150 kilometers from Townsville in the north. The Bruce Highway (A1) runs north-south in the hinterland. The port is located directly on the Coral Sea .

The port includes a loading station and large storage areas for coal. A 2.8 kilometer long pier connects the mainland with the two berths in the sea off the coast.

history

In 1981 the Queensland Parliament approved the construction of a port facility to ship coal at Bowen. This port facility began operations in 1984 as the Port of Abbot Point . In 2011, the Indian company Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited , which belongs to the Adani Group, signed a lease for 99 years for the use of the port facility.

extension

In 2012, a port expansion application was approved by the Queensland government. To secure India's energy supply, the two Indian energy companies GVK and Adani-Group are planning to extract large quantities of coal from the Galilee Basin together with the mining company Hancock Prospecting, which is managed by Gina Rinehart . It is planned to mine at least 120 million tons of coal annually from the Carmichael coal mine and ship it from Abbot Point harbor. Abbot Point would be the largest coal port in the world. However, this requires considerable expansions of the port facility and the port basin. In particular, around three million cubic meters of sand and mud were to be lifted and sunk again in coral- free areas in the open sea. The Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) approved such storage despite objections from environmentalists. Environmental and nature conservation associations, on the other hand, fear considerable damage to the Great Barrier Reef, which is a world natural heritage site. On December 22, 2015, the Australian government approved the controversial port expansion subject to 30 conditions. The planned excavation of 1.1 million cubic meters of sand and sludge is to be deposited in existing industrial facilities on land. The expanded port will be located 20 kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef.

criticism

The port expansion has met with criticism from various environmental organizations. Greenpeace Germany called the plan an "embarrassment of international proportions". Greenpeace Queensland activist Louise Matthiesson accused Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt of putting the interests of the coal lobby above the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. In June 2013, UNESCO asked Australia to explain how the Great Barrier Reef should be protected. Otherwise there is a risk of losing its status as a world natural heritage site . In March 2015, the Australian government halted plans to dump large quantities of dredged material from the port expansion into the reef. Thereafter, UNESCO declared in July 2015 that the Great Barrier Reef would not be placed on the Red List of World Heritage under threat . At the same time, the Australian government was asked to submit a report by December 2016 on how the reef should be protected. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also started a campaign to prevent dumping of excavated harbor in the area of ​​the reef.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Abbot Point Port. In: North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation. Retrieved March 29, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Chris V. Nicholson: Adani of India to Buy Australian Port for $ 2 Billion. In: The New York Times. May 3, 2011, accessed March 29, 2014 .
  3. ^ New Abbot Point coal terminal wins federal approval. In: The Australian. October 10, 2012, accessed March 29, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Christoph Hein: Australia is planning a mega-port on the Great Barrier Reef - world natural heritage in danger. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. March 4, 2014, accessed March 29, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Freya Petersen: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority approves plan to dump Abbot Point spoil. (No longer available online.) In: Yahoo 7 News. February 2, 2014, archived from the original on March 29, 2014 ; accessed on March 29, 2014 (English).
  6. ↑ Australia is expanding coal port on the Great Barrier Reef at welt.de, December 22, 2015 (accessed December 22, 2015).
  7. ^ Sara Westerhaus: Australia gives the green light to sink excavated earth: Great Barrier Reef in danger. Greenpeace Germany, February 3, 2014, accessed December 22, 2015 .
  8. ↑ World Natural Heritage: Unesco worries about the Great Barrier Reef. Spiegel online, June 18, 2013, accessed December 22, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Unesco: Great Barrier Reef remains World Heritage - for the time being. Spiegel online, July 1, 2015, accessed December 22, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Australia's Great Barrier Reef under Threat. WWF, February 9, 2015, accessed December 22, 2015 .