From time to time this blog has commented on the demise of shipping reporters in Australian journalism, the situation evident in the ports of Darwin in the Northern Territory and Townsville , Queensland .
A classic example of the neglect of shipping by the media is the fact that in Townsville during the terrorist atrocities period in Paris has been the bulk cargo ship (above) with a clearly French sounding name , La Guimorais .
The specially built shallow draft vessel is operated by Louis Dreyfus Armateurs , a French family company which has been engaged in maritime transport and logistics for more than 150 years . Back in the olden days of reporting , a shipping reporter/s would have been sent along to a French ship in port to get a local angle on the massacre .
The Louis Dreyfus company flag and French tricolour flying in a position indicating-not yellow fever aboard-but signalling that a fleet of scribes entering Cleveland Bay hit Salamander and Smug Reefs, the skippers asleep at the helm .
News Tip for landlubber reporters : Why has that launch been half submerged at a buoy in Townsville for months , is there any danger of the waters,The Strand sand being polluted , who owns it , why has the port authority allowed it to continue in this state , what are the owner's plans to refloat, will there be room for it in Noah's Ark superstadium , depicted as the Wreck of the Hesperus , Joyita or Mary Celeste, etc, etc. ?
