It is becoming increasingly clear that authorities trying to contain the environmental disaster off the coast of Tauranga are fighting a losing battle.
The weather in the Bay of Plenty eased a little today, allowing officials to undertake a fresh inspection of the stricken Rena.
What they saw has everyone – including the Prime Minister – extremely worried.
There have been a number of significant developments in the past 24 hours, the worst of which is that the Rena appears to be on the verge of breaking up – with a huge crack clearly visible on the port side.
About 70 containers have fallen overboard, some of which have already washed ashore on Motiti Island.
Soldiers have been deployed to help with the cleanup effort, as the oil from Monday night’s huge spill started coming ashore.
Today, up to 500 seabirds were found dead.
Department of Conservation worker Thelma Wilson picked up 22 in just one area of Papamoa Beach.
“Grey faced petrels, there are shags and quite a few little wee diving petrals as well,” she told 3 News.
Other birds were reached just in time; a penguin was rescued by Tauranga residents as it struggled along the beach.
At Mt Maunganui the oil is so thick, volunteers were lifting it off the beach by the clumpful.
Today, Prime Minister John Key says he wishes it would all just go away.
“I wish we had a magic wand we could wave to make it all go away. But that’s not the way of these things and we need to work through it piece by piece,” he said.
Rena’s second officer due in court
The second officer of the stricken cargo ship Rena will appear in a New Zealand court charged with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk.
The officer, who was in charge of navigational watch, will appear in Tauranga District Court at 10am on Thursday, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.
Rena's captain appeared in court on Wednesday morning with the same charge, and was granted name suppression and bailed until October 19.
Hundreds of tonnes of oil have leaked from the ship which struck the Astrolabe reef over a week ago, 12 nautical miles from Tauranga, sparking New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.
Oil started washing ashore at local beaches on Monday and about 70 containers have toppled into the ocean.
The ship has 1368 containers on board - 11 of which are believed to contain hazardous goods but MNZ says all of them are still on the ship.
The charge under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 carries a maximum penalty of $10,000 fine or 12 months' prison.
Exclusion zone widened
The exclusion zone around the grounded cargo ship Rena has been widened to cover more of New Zealand's Bay of Plenty coastline.
The expanded zone stretches roughly 45km from Mount Maunganui to Matata, and approximately 40km out to sea as far as Mayor Island, a Maritime New Zealand spokeswoman told NZ Newswire.
"The entrance to the Port of Tauranga is affected by oil, but is not within the exclusion zone."
The zone was extended as a safety measure for boaties because of navigational hazards - such as shipping containers floating around which have fallen off the stricken vessel, she says.
It will also help response vessels which need clear access to the grounded ship and cargo, Bay of Plenty regional council says.
A fine of up to $20,000 will be imposed on anyone found breaching the zone.
Escaped fuel oil from Rena could stick to boat hulls, and gear and will need to be cleaned off in a controlled environment, such as a self-service car wash designed to cope with oil and pollutants, the council says.
Alternatively de-greasers and detergents can be used - provided the run-off cannot reach streams, water courses which take storm water off footpaths and roads, or drains, it says.
Fears escalate that Rena may break up
Prime Minister John Key says the stricken container ship has "significant structural failings" after large cracks were spotted in the side of the vessel.
The cracks, after Rena was pounded by heavy swells, have elevated fears that it could break up and send more than 1300 tonnes of oil into the sea.
Oil already leaked from the ship continues to wash up on the Bay of Plenty coastline, and critics have asked why so little oil was salvaged in the days immediately after the boat first struck the Astrolabe reef last week.
Mr Key told a media briefing in Tauranga on Wednesday the government shared the frustration of the locals but authorities were acting as fast as they could.
"We wish we had a magic wand we could wave to make this all go away," he said.
"That's not the way of these things and we need to work through it piece by piece and make sure that we clean up the environmental damage."
Mr Key said disasters such as these were generally complex to deal with.
"I believe on the best advice we've had from the best experts in the world, we are moving as quickly as we can.
"Those that argue we should be moving more quickly need to demonstrate what it is we should have done."
The Rena's captain appeared in Tauranga District Court facing a charge of operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary risk or danger, and Mr Key said the government was determined to hold those responsible for the disaster to account.
"This is putting at risk the livelihoods of a number of people in this area.
"It's causing a huge amount of concern and rightly so to local residents," he said.
"Quite frankly the responsibility of those on the ship were to navigate a reef that is well documented and well known... this is a ship that at 17 and a half knots rammed itself into a well-documented reef and we're entitled to have answers about why that happened."
Mr Key said insurance liability on the ship was capped and any expense beyond that would have to fall on the taxpayer.
"We are totally committed to the cleaning up of the environment.
"These beaches need to be restored to the condition they were in before this disaster and we'll make sure that happens."
Up to 70 containers fell overboard on Tuesday night and some washed ashore on nearby Motiti Island.
Clean-up experts and volunteers are on the beaches trying to clean up oil, while veterinarians are trying to save birds coated in oil after the disaster.
3 News / NZN