By Josh Heslop
A warning has been issued to vessels near the stricken Rena about the potential for containers to come off the ship overnight.
So far no containers have come loose but large swells have caused the ship’s list to worsen to about 15 degrees starboard.
Earlier tonight, a capacity crowd attended a meeting held at Tauranga Boys’ College and the concern was evident as Maritime New Zealand’s Catherine Taylor broke news about the Rena’s latest movement. The meeting was also shown pictures taken this morning which clearly show the extent of last night’s oil spill.
The Rena is now a ghost ship shifting uncontrollably on the Astrolabe Reef – strong winds buffeting it and forcing the entire crew to up and leave.
Four to five metre swells have pushed the cargo ship twice – initially to a more upright position, but it is now listing 15 degrees starboard. There are fears the rough ride may have increased the oil leak.
“It is uncertain whether it has punctured one of the after tanks or whether it is merely the duck keel being exposed to a new orientation and oil leaking out,” says Maritime NZ response general manager Bruce Anderson.
Until today it was thought that 20 to 30 tonnes of oil had leaked into the sea. However, estimates are now 10 times that amount; somewhere between 200 and 300 tonnes lost during the storm.
On top of that, the Awanuia was damaged as it pumped oil from the Rena yesterday and now is in Tauranga Harbour being repaired.
Environment Minister Nick Smith says those responsible will be held to account under the new Resource Management Act for what he called an awful environmental tragedy.
“This event has come to a scale where it is New Zealand’s most significant maritime environmental disaster,” he said.
Locals are doing all that they can to contain the environmental impact – despite warnings from officials.
Maritime New Zealand is warning locals not to take the clean up into their own hands.
“They can spread the pollution, they can trample it into the beach which makes it that much more difficult,” says spokesman Alex Van Wijngaarden. “We would prefer them to phone us up and tell us where it is and we will send people after it.”
One of the next places in the firing line is Maketu estuary – home to thousands of coastal birds. Many of those birds are endangered and one local marine biologist says the landscape would make for a nightmare cleanup if oil washed ashore.
“The oil is very slick and sticky,” says Tania Gaborit.
“It would take a lot more people than it would take to clean the beaches – we’d have to be out there with scrubbing brushes.”
For some of the birds it is already too late.
Officials are warning thick oil will be washing up on the beaches for days or even weeks.
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