Cruise ship spills food waste onto the Great Barrier Reef

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has found that a cruise ship dumped 27,000 litres of food waste and gray water into the Great Barrier Reef in August.

The report says The P&O cruise ship spilled the substances on 26 August after food waste was transferred to the Pacific Explorer's galley holding tank due to a shortage in space in its food waste tanks.

Waste from the galley tank was then discharged by the ship's engineers.

A hearing at the Australian Senate was told that P&O reported the spill to Amsa but the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority was not informed until September.