UPDATE: Stranded Ship In NZ Cracks and Spills Tons of Heavy Fuel
MarEx has been reporting about the grounded cargo ship in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty since its initial reef collision. Latest events tell that the Rena is now cracking and breaking up in the midst of heavy seas, and has already spilled hundreds of tons of oil into the environmentally sensitive ecosystem.
The Liberian-flagged Rena, which has been stranded since October 5th, is now showing a vertical crack from the waterline to the deck. Around 70 containers have fallen off of the vessel as the worsening weather conditions further its listing.
Head of the salvage operations, Maritime New Zealand, report that the crack is a substantial structural defect and worries that the stern will break away as a result. Three tugboats are being used to stabilize the hull, while plans to unload oil from the Rena are made.
Swells reaching 16-feet made salvage operations earlier in the week nearly impossible with workers unable to even board the ship, leaving all the oil contained on the Rena. The swells are expected to settle by Thursday, giving some hope to salvage teams about boarding and halting the increasingly worrisome disaster.
Maritime New Zealand so far estimates that between 220 and 330 tons of heavy fuel oil have spilled from the hull of the Rena into the Bay of Plenty, becoming what NZ environment minister, Nick Smith, calls New Zealand’s biggest maritime environmental disaster. So far NZ beaches have only seen a light oiling of their beaches from smaller leaks, but are now expected to become much worse as more significant oil discharge washes to the shore. 200 oiled seabirds have been found dead so far, as well as dead fish turning up on the beaches while volunteers try to clean oily clots from the otherwise pristine white sand.
The threat of exacerbation to the spillage looms with the thought of the Rena fully breaking apart, which would send the remainder of the 1,700+ tons of oil into the water unless salvage crews can remove oil from the vessel.
Rena’s Captain, a Filipino man, has appeared in a Tauranga court with heavy police presence and is now being charged with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk. He faced bail charges and is expected to return to the court on October 19th for the charge with carries a maximum penalty of NZ$10,000, or 1 year in jail.
The government and community alike are demanding to know why the ship crashed into the charted reef in calm weather conditions in the first place, and vessel management provides no explanation as local outrage grows in New Zealand.