By David Barbeler
A cargo ship responsible for one of Australia's worst oil spills has been declared seaworthy and released from detention.
Thirty-one containers from the Pacific Adventurer were swept into the water off Cape Moreton when the Brisbane-bound ship carrying ammonium nitrate ran into Cyclone Hamish on March 11.
The Pacific Adventurer in Moreton Bay after spilling oil in the wake of Cyclone Hamish.Credit: Channel Ten
The ship's hull was punctured and 270 tonnes of fuel oil washed onto beaches on Moreton and Bribie islands and the Sunshine Coast.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement on Wednesday it had released the Pacific Adventurer ''having been satisfied that the ship is now in a seaworthy condition following extensive repairs''.
''This decision was made in consultation with Maritime Safety Queensland,'' AMSA said.
International authorities had also signed off on the ship's structural and mechanical integrity.
The Port of Brisbane's schedule listed the ship's departure time as 11.30 (AEST).
A spokesman for the ship's owner, Swire Shipping, said it would head to Asia where permanent repairs to the hull would be undertaken.
The spokesman also confirmed a new master had taken over the ship.
The master at the time of the accident, Manila-based Captain Bernardino Gonzales Santos, 47, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 3 charged with one count of discharging oil into Queensland waters.
He's been bailed to reappear in court in June.
An AMSA spokeswoman said the ship would now travel north from Brisbane outside the Great Barrier Reef through the Coral Sea towards Indonesia and then to China.
Investigations into safety aspects of the incident and potential breaches of pollution and navigation laws are continuing, AMSA said.
A preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said its probe would focus on the adequacy of container lashings, the condition of the ship when loaded in Newcastle, the crew's actions during the storm and safety management systems.
AAP