As salvage teams remove tonnes of debris from the stricken container ship Rena, the wreckage continues to deteriorate, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.
Salvors and two helicopters, one taking loads of up to 2.5 tonnes, have been removing debris and containers from the wreck on the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Tauranga.
The front part of the ship remaining on the reef continues to deteriorate, which is not unexpected, MNZ says.
Salvors and naval architects monitored the wreck to ensure it was safe work on.
Removing the containers was challenging and time consuming, because they had to be cut up and the contents removed.
However, good progress had been made this week, MNZ said.
Rena crashed into the reef in October. It split in two last month with the back part sinking.
Salvors and divers are continuing to survey areas around the back part of the ship.
A significant number of damaged containers and debris are on the sea floor, MNZ says.
Small amounts of oil is trickling from Rena and teams are continuing clean-up operations.
Wildlife teams are caring for 21 little blue penguins and one grey-faced petrel with plans to release eight penguins next week.
NZN