Queensland fuel spill lawsuit looms

Premier Anna Bligh has threatened to sue the owners of a ship responsible for Queensland's biggest environmental disaster.

The cyclone-buffeted Pacific Adventurer leaked 270,000 litres of fuel into Moreton Bay in March, triggering a A$34 million ($43.6 million) clean-up of Moreton and Bribie islands and Sunshine Coast beaches.

This week, Hong Kong company Swire Shipping's lawyers wrote to the Premier refusing to cover those costs, citing an international maritime convention that caps clean-up payments to US$17 million ($26.3 million).