ABC reported that salvage crews are conducting more tests this morning before deciding whether to refloat a bulk coal ship grounded on the Great Barrier Reef off the central Queensland coast.

Maritime Safety Queensland said that crews are testing the ship's ballast tanks this morning. Crews said if the water is clear of oil, then air will be pumped into the tanks to help refloat the ship.

MSQ spokesman Mr Patrick said that “Part of the refloating technology is to pressurize some tanks to push some water out and give those tanks buoyancy which helps us float the vessel off the shoal. We have a concern that oil may have spread to a limited amount into some of those tanks, so we need to pressurize those tanks one by one, to ensure when we do pressurize them up as part of the flotation exercise that they are free of oil.”

But the salvage crews are keeping a close eye on the weather, which is expected to get rough over the next 24 hours. A low is expected to develop in the area tomorrow, whipping up winds of up to 30 knots.

The Chinese ship, MV Shen Neng 1, ran aground on Douglas Shoal, east of Rockhampton, nine days ago on Easter Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police confirmed on the weekend it has launched an investigation into the MV Shen Neng 1 grounding.

(Sourced from abc.net.au)