Tag: New Zealand

The release of 60 penguins

After being contaminated by an oil spill off New Zealand Forty-nine little blue penguins rescued and cleaned up after being contaminated by an oil spill off New Zealand nearly seven weeks ago were released into the sea on Tuesday.Maritime New Zealand, which is supervising salvage of the 47,000-ton Rena, said it was the start of a staged release of wildlife over the next few weeks.More than 2,000 seabirds died after about 360 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled from a cargo ship that grounded on a reef 22 kilometres off the east coast port of Tauranga, on October 5.More than 300 penguins are still being held at a wildlife centre after the country's worst marine environmental disaster.Salvage workers managed to pump most of the 1,700 tons of oil from the Liberian-registered Rena. The ship remains on the reef, severely damaged and listing 21 degrees.Veterinarian Brett Gartrell told the Bay of Plenty Times the penguins were made to swim for six hours in their pool on Monday to test their ability to survive in the wild again.'We're simulating the fact the penguins have to spend the whole day out on the water,' he said. 'They were then checked to make sure ...

Salvors may continue to remove containers from the vessel The exclusion zone around the stranded container ship Rena has been reduced, allowing charter operators and others access to the popular coastal area as salvors continue to remove containers from the vessel.Salvors removed 31 containers of 1280 left on the ship on Friday. The Rena grounded on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga on October 5. It was carrying 1368 containers when it grounded and 88 containers have fallen off the ship.The weather is fine in the region on Saturday and salvors are continuing their work, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.Clean-up operations will also continue on Leisure Island, Matakana Island, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and the Kaituna River Mouth, MNZ says.The Bay of Plenty Regional Council's harbourmaster has reduced the exclusion zone to three nautical miles around the ship.The new zone was put in place from midnight on Friday.About 350 tonnes of oil leaked from the ship.Source: Maritime NZ

MV RENA Updates Calm conditions have allowed 15 more containers to be lifted from the rear of the cargo ship Rena to the crane barge Sea Tow 60 (ST 60), Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.This brings the total number of containers removed to 18, after three were removed yesterday.MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Kenny Crawford said "With every container removed, the consequences are lessened, but every day is a new day and each container presents its own puzzle."Cranes cannot operate in winds greater than around 24 knots, so we are very much at the mercy of the weather. Even if it looks calm, strong winds can halt operations," Mr Crawford said.Salvors have now fitted 220 transponders to containers aboard the Rena and tugs are on hand to provide additional support for vessel operations.Containers recovered from the Rena are being transferred from the ST60 on to the salvage support vessel Go Canopus, before being brought into port for unloading and processing as required. Container processing is being carried out by Braemar Howells.Containers that need cleaning and treatment will be taken to the waste transfer centre in Truman Lane. Harrison's Cut will be used only for submerged or floating containers, which, for whatever ...

Updates from MV RENA salvage operation The first container has been lifted from the rear of the cargo ship Rena onto the crane barge Sea Tow 60 (ST60), Maritime New Zealand says.The container was lifted off the ship around 3.30pm, and is one of three that were successfully decoupled by salvors today, ready for transfer to the ST60."Difficult weather conditions stopped crane operations yesterday, and the salvors had this morning originally planned to move the ST60 to the Rena's more sheltered port side to prepare for removal of containers," MNZ Salvage Manager Kenny Crawford said. "However, thanks to the weather conditions much calmer today, they were able to successfully start the container removal process from the stern of the Rena."Weather conditions at present are looking pretty good for continued container removal and salvors are keen to take advantage of that window", he said."Obviously getting the first container off is a milestone for the operation, but there is still a very long way to go. The removal process will take time, as - for safety reasons - each container needs to be lifted separately. Each will also present its own challenges, depending on its position on the vessel and how badly ...

MV RENA Updates Salvage teams have pumped all of the oil out of a cargo ship stranded off New Zealand, officials say.The Rena, which got stuck on a reef and was in danger of breaking apart, initially leaked 350 tonnes of oil, killing more than 1,000 sea birds.Salvage operations had been hampered by bad weather, and there were fears of a widespread environmental disaster.But Maritime New Zealand said it had now finished pumping oil and would send in a crane to remove the cargo.There are still about 1,300 containers to be removed from the ship, which will also be moved off the reef. Disbelief to reliefStuart Crosby, mayor of the city of Tauranga, said the result was tremendous."The salvors have done an amazing job under treacherous conditions to avoid an environmental disaster," he said, according to the New Zealand Herald."I guess we've all gone through a series of emotions that we all do in this type of event. There has been disbelief, frustration, anger, and now relief - relief that the oil has been taken away by these great people."The Greek-owned and Liberian-flagged cargo ship ran aground on 5 October on Astrolabe Reef, 22km (14 miles) from Tauranga Harbour on ...

Remaining 300 tonnes of oil still to be pumped off Oil isnowbeing continuouslypumped at a stable rate from the submergednumber 5 starboard fuel oil tank on the grounded container ship Rena, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.As at 3pm today, around 54 tonnesof heavy fuel oil from the tank had been transferred to the adjacent oil tanker Awanuia.MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Arthur Jobard said this left around 300 tonnes of oil still to be pumped off the ship to empty the final and most challenging tank."It is really pleasing to see oil being pumped from this tank," Mr Jobard said."Getting to this point has been incredibly challenging for the salvors. They have worked tirelessly to start removing oil despite setbacks along the way, and this is a significant milestone for the entire operation. "Every tonne of oil they take off the ship is another tonne that will not go into the water."Mr Jobard said the team was now working to speed up the pumping rate from the tank, in an effort to get the oil off as quickly as possible. The team was using a "hot tapping" technique, which is a method of extracting oil from the submerged tank without allowing ...

Rena Update Pockets of air trapped in the Rena's submerged starboard wing tank are believed to be the principal stumbling block preventing pumping of the last 358 tonnes of heavy fuel oil off the vessel Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said.MNZ salvage advisor Jon Walker, of London Offshore Consultants, said that every time the salvors began pumping oil from the tank, they encountered air and had to spend hours clearing and resetting the system before they could try again. This was extremely frustrating, he said."They keep starting it. They get a flow and then they find they are pumping air so they have to go back, open lines, vent air and reset everything."MNZ Unit Salvage Manager Arthur Jobard said that the salvors had also traced the source of seawater which had been preventing the removal of the remaining 20,000 litres of lubricating oil from the Rena'sengine room storage tank. They were in the process of sealing the vents and would resume pumping the lubricating oil as soon as that was finished.Divers report that there is no apparent change in the condition of the Rena's hull.Container removal contractor Braemar Howells used a helicopter to remove 51 cubic metres of debris from Motiti ...

The head of a Tauranga iwi doubts the Government can afford to keep the beaches and sea clean The head of a Tauranga iwi doubts the Government can afford to keep the beaches and sea clean in the long run, following the grounding of the container ship, Rena.The ship got stuck on a reef off the Bay of Plenty coast over a month ago.Since then, oil has spilt into the sea from the vessel's fuel tanks, polluted the water and beaches, and killed wildlife.Salvors are still working to remove the last of the oil from the vessel.Ngai Te Rangi runanga chair Charlie Tawhiao expects it will be years before the last of the oil in the ocean washes ashore.But he says the trustboard's been assured by the Crown that it will do all it can to try and restore the environment to what it once was.He says he's worried about whether the Government can afford to implement a long-term plan and whether its will to restore the environment will remain after the election.Source: Radio New Zealand

Master and second officer could be jailed over environmental damage from shipwreck Two senior officers from the Rena, the cargo ship grounded on a New Zealand reef for almost a month, are to face further charges, the country's shipping authority has announced.The Rena caused New Zealand's worst environmental crisis after it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef, off Tauranga, nearly three weeks ago, leaking hundreds of tonnes of oil.The master of the Liberian-flagged Rena and its second officer have already been charged with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk. They were remanded on bail by the Tauranga District Court.The charge carries a maximum fine of NZ$10,000 (US$8,000) or a jail term of up to 12 months.Yesterday Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said it was laying a further charge against the two men relating to the "discharge of harmful substances from ships or offshore installations".Conviction could mean a fine of $300,000 or two years in prison, as well as a fine of $10,000 for every day the offending continued, said an MNZ statement.The court ordered the identities of the master and second officer to be suppressed and there have been reports that 19 of the Rena's 25 Filipino ...