Scubaism

Decommissioned oil rigs off Australia’s coastline could become hubs for marine-based businesses such as coral harvesting for aquariums, a fish expert says.

Professor David Booth, of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and University of Technology, Sydney, says there are up to 60 oil rigs in Australian waters that are due to be decommissioned in the next decade. Most are in the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia.

The future of Australia’s ageing oil rigs is due to be on the agenda again with the DITR to release a discussion paper in the next two months.

Booth says the options for decommissioning oil rigs include: leaving them intact and in place; towing them away for dismantling; removing the platform and using explosives to topple the remaining shell; and removing the platform and leaving the remaining shell in place.

In the last two cases, the shell of the oil rig forms an artificial reef.

Booth says the removal and towing of the rig to Singapore or India for dismantling could have a negative impact on the environment due to the carbon cost of towing the rig and the risk of oil spills.

Booth is part of the SEA SERPENT project, jointly funded by the federal government and oil companies, which allows scientists to use oil rigs and their facilities to study marine life.