By Elizabeth Puranam
The first pictures from onboard the Rena show the extent of the damage to the ship.
Work to assess the damage on the ship, which struck the Astrolabe Reef eight days ago, began this morning.
The footage was taken by one of three salvage workers on board and the damage is plain to see - including the huge crack in the hull.
“They believe that although it is creaking an groaning and making a lot of noise – and still moving quite a bit – it’s okay for them to operate on at this time,” says Maritime NZ Response General Manager Bruce Anderson.
While the salvage steam stayed on board for five hours, the first containers had made it to shore - carrying everything from animal hides to meat patties. There were 1386 containers onboard the Rena when it struck the reef.
Among the 88 containers now known to have come off the ship, is one containing alkylsulfonic acid. Maritime New Zealand admits it doesn’t know where that container is.
“That’s another reason why the public shouldn’t go anywhere near those containers,” says Mr Anderson. “They should just leave them alone and leave them for some specialists to deal with.”
By midday, contractors were ready and able to move one of the containers, but were told they couldn’t without having a safety management plan first.
“That’s crazy. They should be starting to get the beach cleaned up. It’s just a bit sad what’s going on at the moment.”
It is likely to be tomorrow before shifting the containers begins. Meanwhile, the problem of the oil persists.
The response team have announced they would stop using aerial dispersant on the oil. With nothing breaking up the oil at sea, it is left to volunteers to clean it up as it arrives on the beaches.
As of midday, 22km of beachfront was closed to the public.
This afternoon the owner of the Greek shipping company which owns the Rena sent a video apology to New Zealand.
“We want to say that we are deeply sorry for the situation that has arisen and the threat you are now facing,” Costamere Shipping managing director Diamantis Manos.
It is a threat that is now more evident than ever.
For many, the apology already feels too little too late.
3 News