Maritime New Zealand declared a tier 3 response, and mobilised the National Response Team for oil spill response. In the course of the first month salvage company Svitzer worked around the clock to remove oil, however severe weather caused some oil to spill from the wreck and wash up on local beaches.
Volunteers, the New Zealand Army and other trained responders spent days cleaning up oil from beaches. More than dead birds were found and birds mainly little blue penguins were rescued and taken to the wildlife oil spill response facility. Eighty eight containers were lost overboard and containers and debris washed up on beaches.
Eleven containers were identified as containing hazardous goods. Local iwi supported the efforts to clean-up coastlines. An exclusion zone was set around Otaiti Astrolabe reef , beaches closed to the public and people were warned against eating kaimoana seafood. A number of organisations, government agencies, regional and local government councils, tertiary institutions, iwi and community groups were involved in Rena response and recovery.
All had a common aim: to minimise the environmental impact of the Rena disaster and return Bay of Plenty's coastline to its pre-Rena state as quickly as possible. Following the grounding of the Rena, for safety reasons a temporary moving exclusion zone was established.
This was later removed in for vessels under tonnes when the wreck was no longer a navigational hazard. The High Court agreed with the submission and issued an interim decision in May that Regional Councils can impose planning controls over fishing in their regional plans under the Resource Management Act RMA. Ministry for Primary Industries appealed the decision and we are presently waiting for the decision to be heard by the Court of Appeal.
October 10 When the ship ran aground about " tonnes of oil spilled into the sea, killing at least 1, birds," according to the Associated Foreign Press. As the oil spilled into the ocean, an army of volunteers combed the coastline attempting to save the wildlife.
This incident may be the worst natural disaster in New Zealand maritime history. Above, the ship Awanuia operated near the stricken cargo vessel to remove oil. October 13 Air Force Iroquois helicopter winches a salvage expert on to Rena. With the ship stranded and the seas tossing the aft section the salvage operations are "very, very dangerous and very difficult" said Matthew Watson, a spokesman for the sailors to Radio New Zealand. October 17 The seas motion has caused the hull to buckle on the port side approximately a third of the way from the bow.
Because of the damage, the salvage crews will have to move quickly to avoid losing cargo and causing further damage to the surrounding environment. October 20 Aside from the moving seas, much of the above deck cargo hangs precariously creating complex safety issues that must be addressed before salvage operations can begin.
Above, a photo of air lift operations on August 15th. The helicopter was picking up oxygen bottles for transport to the salvage team on board Rena, to be used in cutting operations. Cut sections of the Rena laid on the transport barge for later removal from the site. In the photo above, a technician can be seen cutting and removing side shell sections at the prow. A helicopter hovering above, outside the frame, held a line attached to the piece being cut.
The helipad was erected on the prow to facilitate access. In early September, heavy swells forced a piece of the bow section to break off.
An exhaustive salvage effort continued to remove as much of the wreckage as possible, although a large debris field remained at the site after several year.
In , a New Zealand court ruled that what remained of the Rena shipwreck could be abandoned at the site , but the owners would need to pay for on-going costs.
Have a news tip? Let us know. The announcement, made Photo: Bay of Plenty Regional Council In the above fly-over shot taken midday on October 8th you there is a noticeable oil sheen on the water. Photo: Dudley Clemens The tanker Awanuia can be seen operating near the stricken cargo vessel on October 9th. Photo: Maritime New Zealand With heavy weather moving in, Rena began to list heavily and its cargo stacks collapsed, sending some containers into the water.
Photo: New Zealand Defence Force You can see Rena losing containers as heavy swells wash over her deck on the starboard side.
Photo: Blair Harkness Also on October 12th, a large crack appeared on the port side of the stricken vessel Rena. Photo: Svitzer A salvor can be seen being airlifted onto Rena on October 15th. Image credit: Svitzer The tanker Awanuia pumps oil from the wreck on October 17th. Image credit: Maritime New Zealand Operations continued around Rena as seen during a morning observation flight on November 15th. Image credit: Maritime New Zealand As the seas calmed, damage to Rena could be seen during a morning observation flight on January 9th.
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NZ Department of Conservation. Maritime New Zealand. Published 7 March Published 8 January
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