Resolve To Remove MV Rena Wreck from Astrolabe Reef

Florida based Resolve Marine Group has been awarded the contract by the Rena’s owners and insurers to remove the vessel from the Astrolabe Reef, where she remains after running aground last October.

The first step will include the reduction of the wreck’s bow that remains above water. The ship’s insurer, Swedish Club, says the bow will be cut into sections and removed by helicopter.

Officials say Resolve has developed a plan that meets their environmental concerns in the delicate marine sanctuary.

The appointment of Resolve was announced today by Athens-based Konstantinos Zacharatos, director and legal counsel for the ship’s owner, Costamare.

The Rena is a 236 meter, Liberian-flagged cargo vessel that cause an environmental disaster after crashing into the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga in October 2011. Storms have continued to damage the wreck, breaking sections of the vessel off, leaving them to sink to rest on the reef.

Resolve has a team in the area working to determine the plan of action and what steps to take after the bow is removed. Removal of the bow is expected to take six months.

So far the ship’s insurers have spent $200 million on salvage operations.