Rough seas give Rena a battering

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Tue, 11 Oct 2011 7:00p.m.

The Rena is now listing 15 degrees starboard

The Rena is now listing 15 degrees starboard

The Rena has tonight shifted again and is now listing at 15 degrees starboard in four to five metre swells.

Strong wings will hit Tauranga tonight, as oil haemorrhages from the ship’s punctured hull.

Estimates now put the amount of oil lost into the sea at somewhere in the region of 350 tonnes.

It is already washing ashore, but will do so in greater volume and over a far wider area – a fact that will be evident at daybreak tomorrow.

In short, it is a disaster and weather is conspiring against all attempts to stop it.

With planes and helicopters grounded and the oil collection barge forced to stay in port, as well as salvage experts and crew removed form the Rena, today the giant cargo ship was left to the mercy of the 4.3 metre swells.

Oil is now washing up on a large sweep of coastline near Tauranga and as people are attempting to mop it up, the region’s marine and beach wildlife is increasingly being covered in it.

Locals want action.

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Comments

18 Oct 2011 04:08p.m.

lex wrote:

You do not have the whole story, ask the selvage crew off camera:- why was their not a Danish crew or something driving the ship!
It’s known in the industry to run a Philippians crew when you want to scuttle a ship. Ask the selvage crew.
Have a look at the crew family and these mean are going to do time to escape finical ruin in the Philippians.

You have not dug this story out. We need New Zealand crew in New Zealand waters. You know this reef is well documented. Their is intent and you have not got the truth in this whole story.
Dig Dig Dig.
A multimillion dollar ship and little GPS equipment, just a little strange?

17 Oct 2011 07:53p.m.

brendon wrote:

The Rena disaster is just the tip of the iceberg. Maritime New Zealand appears to lack maritime expertise within their top management structure. There are a bunch of bureaucrats who do not understand the impact of an international carrier creating a disaster such as what has just happened. The importance of the bunker convention and other conventions that NZ has not ratified. There should be a review that looks into why things went so wrong and the potential for future disasters need to be avoided.

12 Oct 2011 07:27p.m.

Ian Silvester wrote:

Interesting that on the TV3 news tonight the police say containers etc lost overboard remain the property of original owners, maybe this applies also to the fuel oil escaping from stricken vessel Rena.

12 Oct 2011 07:23p.m.

Prav wrote:

To all the back yard expects on Rena rescue. Water navigation is not as easy as what you guys are thinking.

12 Oct 2011 06:58p.m.

Marisa wrote:

First the council destroy my mother's lawn by spraying it all so it can be replaced by weeds (they're native they say) then they do nothing about the oil spill so the beach is destroyed too. I sat there for a week at her place on Motiti road watching a boat stranded by itself in calm waters. Now the waters are rough and there are consequences the authorities are finally starting to move. Unfortunately its too late. Sick of the NZ reactive not proactive tendency

12 Oct 2011 06:24p.m.

Doug G wrote:

John Key should resign over his response to the oil spill. It happened on his watch. The four days nothing was done were crucial. If the oil was pumped off during that time it would have been easy and our coastlines would still be pristine.

12 Oct 2011 06:17p.m.

Ian wrote:

Why don't the get a big helicopter in and lift each container off and put on another ship so it’s not so heavy. As for the oil burn it on the water like they did like the BP disaster!

12 Oct 2011 06:17p.m.

Gary wrote:

What a disaster and we see pictures of locals trying to cleanup. Where are the members of our unemployed brigade ? Isn't it time the government invested in those people and actually got them to earn their benefits by trying to help the cleanup. Seems we allow those people to sit back and watch. I work long hours in Ch-Ch, but would be prepared to work along the beach cleaning up if the national company I work for would spare me and believe I was more valuable to the cleanup. We in Ch-Ch have had support from others around NZ and it would be great to return some of the goodwill

12 Oct 2011 03:31p.m.

Dunedin wrote:

I think this is a joke. The only thing the government is worried about is the RWC. There are heaps of things that could of been done to slow down the oil getting to shore and spreading. The RWC will be forgotten in a couple of months, but this will take years to fix. What a JOKE!!!!!!

12 Oct 2011 12:01a.m.

flo wrote:

were the crew on the rena drunk? cos thats the gos" around here