The Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) told ABC Online that it will begin to off-load coal from the damaged Chinese coal ship on Wednesday as it has arrived at the Harvey Bay off south-east Queensland.

The Shen Neng 1 ship was moved from waters off Gladstone in central Queensland and is now located at a spot between the Hervey Bay coastline and Fraser Island.

The ship moved ashore on Douglas Shoal on the Great Barrier Reef of Easter, east of Rockhampton.

Patrick Quirk, the general manager of MSQ says that all safety measures have been put into operation to off-load an amount of 19,000 tonnes of coal.

He said that the first lightning ship is due on site this evening and the ships will come together, compartment tomorrow and they were hoping the discharge to begin tomorrow afternoon.

He added that they have two vessels involved with the discharge. It would take approximately two to three weeks if everything goes according to plan. The operation will not be rushed as risk of any spillage should be minimized.

The discharge will be done according to their own rate to ensure not only a better risk management but also to minimize the time to be spent in Harvey Bay.