Video: Fears of fresh New Zealand oil spill as Rena splits in half
Rough seas have caused the stricken container ship Rena to split in half. Image: Maritime New Zealand
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Rough seas cause stricken container ship to split in half
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October's oil spill was New Zealand's worst ever maritime environmental disaster
A container ship that ran aground off the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island in October has split in two in rough seas raising fears of a further oil spill.
When Rena, the 775 foot Liberian-flagged container ship, originally ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, it caused 350 tonnes of oil to wash up on New Zealand’s beaches after the vessel’s fuel tank was breached, killing thousands of sea dwelling birds and swarms of fish in the process.
The incident on October 5th last year was New Zealand’s worst maritime environmental disaster in history.
Maritime New Zealand’s aerial footage of the stricken ship (see video) now shows the vessel in two sections after stormy weather battered Rena over the weekend.
“While reports at this stage indicate there has not been a significant release of oil, with the Rena in its current fragile state, a further release is likely,” said National on Scene Commander, Alex van Wijngaarden.
Debris and cargo has now started to wash-up on the nearby Waihi beach, according to Maritime New Zealand.
Teams have been deployed to aid in the clear-up operation after items such as timber, milk powder and plastics began to wash ashore.
“There is inevitably going to be a lot of mess and disturbance for the next few days while this is cleaned up and we would like people to use common sense and stay well away from the debris,” added van Wijngaarden.
New Zealand authorities have also reported cases of looting in the area.
According to Maritime New Zealand, a total of twelve containers have come ashore, while mine-clearing equipment is being used by New Zealand’s defense forces to search for debris in nearby harbor channels.
An additional 21 containers have been tagged with buoys, which will be removed from the sea when weather conditions improve.
Video courtesy of Maritime New Zealand
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PTI Journal
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Edition 52
In the 52nd edition of PTI we look at factors affecting the TCO in equipment procurement, draw up safety checklists for quay cranes and mooring operations, and take a look at the Port of Long Beach's new multi-sensor port security system.
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