By Jenny Suo
The Rena salvage efforts are in a critical stage tonight due to the weather.
Although no one is aboard one tug is still connected to the stern with another two tugs on standby.
It has been too rough to connect the hose that takes the oil off the Rena and that is why salvors have been unable to pump any oil all day, and they have given up for tonight.
They will assess the weather in the morning but it is not looking too good tomorrow either. Winds will reach up to 25 knots with one metre swells.
But there was some good news for the Bay of Plenty today. The shipping company that chartered Rena has offered a cheque for a million dollars.
For the Mediterranean Shipping Company the cost of simply hiring the Rena just sky rocketed.
They do not own the ship, they do not employ the crew, but they say they are corporates with a conscience. So they have donated $1 million to the clean up effort
“The oil is New Zealand's biggest oil spill; there is significant pressure on the people of Bay of Plenty. We are trying to show a gesture, we are an international shipping company [and] we want to continue trading here,” says MSC New Zealand manager Phil Abraham.
MSC's Tauranga office is one of 350 worldwide. It is the largest shipping line in the world in terms of container vessel capacity. The Rena is one of 457 container vessels the company uses.
They say liability still rests with the owners of Rena but Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the company has a financial role to play
“It is a start and its good to see then stepping up to that extent that they have so far, but I wouldn’t necessarily accept that this is where it ends.”
And the end isn’t near for the Rena itself. Nature seems determined to take her to the depths.
Four metre swells are pounding the wreck but the split ship remains on the reef.
“The port crack and the starboard crack are still visible. She is being held together both by the reef and internal structures,” says Andrew Berry, Maritime New Zealand Salvage Unit Manager.
The bad weather has made it too dangerous to pump oil so the salvors have left and the Awanuia fuel barge has been disconnected.
“That pipe could easily rupture which is why the Awanuia had to disengage last night,” says Mr Berry.
It was a forced halt to a recovery rate of only three to four tonnnes an hour. So far only 90 of the 1300 tonnes on board have been pumped off.
More oil has leaked but the swells have pushed it out to sea and broken it up. No more oil has made it to beaches but the clean up operation stopped today due to bad conditions.
The salvors are waiting for a break in the weather before going back on board as long as the Rena holds together.
“If the two ends – the two sections – do detach, an attempt will be made using the tugs that are out there to tow the stern section back around either on to the reef or around into shallow water,” says Mr Berry.
It is not a popular option, but the decision is up to mother nature
3 News