China says concerned about ship stuck on Australian reef

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed concern on Thursday about a Chinese coal ship that ran aground on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, threatening the delicate coral environment and angering Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The Chinese bulk carrier Shen Neng 1 was fully loaded and going at full speed when it hit the Douglas Shoal in the World Heritage-listed reef park off northern Queensland state on Saturday.

Authorities have been trying to stop 975 tonnes of fuel oil in the damaged ship from leaking on to corals, which are one of the country's main tourist attractions.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd flew over the ship with maritime officials and said he was worried that it had been far off course from approved shipping lanes.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu sought to dilute that anger, which has added to recent irritants in ties with Australia, including China's handling of the trial of four employees of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, one of them an Australian national.

"We express our concern about the possibility that an oil spill may pollute the reef," Jiang told a regular news conference.

Jiang said her government had been in contact with Australian authorities about the incident.

"We also hope that the relevant (shipping) company and the Australian authorities can enhance cooperation and both sides can appropriately resolve the problems," she said.

Jiang did not explain how that cooperation could be improved.

The stranded ship belongs to the Shenzhen Energy Group, a subsidiary of China's state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, better known by its acronym COSCO.

In 2007, COSCO was linked to a major oil spill in San Francisco bay, while last year it was tied to another in Norway.

COSCO could face fines of up to A$1 million ($920,800) over the incident, while the ship's captain could face an individual penalty of up to A$250,000.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Sugita Katyal)