Tug pulls Malaysian ship off Great Barrier Reef

By Grant Holloway
CNN.com Writer

BRISBANE, Australia -- Malaysian cargo ship Bunga Teratai Satu has been successfully pulled off Australia's Great Barrier Reef where it ran aground nearly two weeks ago.

The salvage came after a decision Sunday to use dynamite to blow away coral outcrops which had hampered two earlier rescue attempts.

The 21,000-ton ship had lodged itself on a section of the Reef on November 2 about 22 nautical miles south of the town of Cairns in Queensland, Australia. It is now being moved to a safe anchorage nearby, where maritime safety experts will inspect it before being allowed to resume its journey.

The container ship was en route from Singapore to Sydney when it failed to follow a navigation channel and ran into the Reef.

The ship's cargo includes 132 tons of fungicides and pesticides, glycerol, perfumery products and polystyrene beads.

The ship is own by Malaysia International Shipping Corp, which said last Wednesday it took full responsibility for the accident.

Reports from the salvage scene on Tuesday morning indicated that no pollution had been sighted following the refloating operation. There were fears that the anti-corrosive pain on the vessel's hull would pollute the fragile Reef ecosystem.

Steve Bredhauer, the Minister for Transport for Queensland, said the refloat had occurred without any pollution and minimal damage to the Reef.

He said the decision to use dynamite to help free the ship had not been taken lightly.

"We had to weigh that up against the very real threat of pollution to the Reef," he said.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park extends almost 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) from near Papua New Guinea down Australia's northeast coast. Australia's World Heritage List named the Reef as the world's largest living coral mass and considered one of the planet's greatest natural phenomena.

Reuters contributed to this report.