So they blame the charts. A real Captain would have
at least accepted responsibility for screwing up. A better
Captain would have expected the charts to be off and
planned his track a bit more carefully.
..
"Bob Crantz" wrote
Greenpeace fined for reef damage

Greenpeace divers were inspecting Tubbataha's reefs for damage
Environmental group Greenpeace has been fined almost $7,000 (£4,000) for
damaging a coral reef at a World Heritage site in the Philippines.
Their flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran aground at Tubbataha Reef Marine
Park,
in the Sulu Sea, 650km (400 miles) south-east of Manila.

Park officials said almost 100 sq m (1,076 sq ft) of reef had been
damaged.

Greenpeace agreed to pay the fine, but blamed the accident on outdated
maps
provided by the Philippines government.

"The chart indicated we were a mile and a half" from the coral reef when
the
ship ran aground, regional Greenpeace official Red Constantino told AFP
news
agency.

"This accident could have been avoided if the chart was accurate," he
said,
adding, however, that Greenpeace felt "responsible" for the damage.

'Immediate action'

The accident happened while the Rainbow Warrior was on a four-month tour
of
the Asia-Pacific region to promote environmentally-friendly energy
sources.

Greenpeace divers were at the Tubbataha park, off the coast of Palawan
island, to inspect the effect of global warming on the coral reef.


The Rainbow Warrior escaped serious damage
Mr Constantino said the reef appeared to be healthy, with no evidence of
bleaching which is believed to be caused by warmer sea temperatures.

The Rainbow Warrior II escaped serious damage and was towed into deeper
water by its own rubber boats.

Tubbataha park manager, Angelique Songco, praised the work Greenpeace was
doing to protect the environment.

"We also appreciate the immediate action they took to get the full
assessment of the damage," she said.