Tonnes of oil leak from ship aground off New Zealand

Maritime New Zealand Incident Controller Rob Service said "the damage is quite extensive"
BBC News 8 Oct 11;

Several tonnes of oil have leaked from a cargo ship which has run aground close to one of New Zealand's top tourist destinations, officials say.

The maritime authorities in New Zealand believe at least 10 tonnes of oil have already seeped from the Rena.

This has created a 5km-long (3 miles) oil slick from the 47,000-tonne container ship.

Several Naval vessels have been sent to assist the salvage operation which has been hampered by poor weather.

If the ship breaks up, it could release 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the Bay of Plenty, home to whales, dolphins, seals, penguins and a variety of other birds.

The Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef about 12 nautical miles from Tauranga Harbour on Wednesday.

Svitzer Salvage, the company handling the ship's rescue, said the oil needs to be secured then removed before any refloat attempt is possible.

A spokesperson, Matthew Watson, said the outlook for the ship had improved but more oil could end up in the water.

"The vessel is damaged in the hull. There could be residual oil flushing around and that could be influenced by waves lapping against it or by tidal movements. So, while it is certainly looking better today (Saturday), no-one should be complacent," he said.
'Disastrous'

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said on Friday that salvage teams were working hard to remove oil from the stricken ship to protect the bay.

"The difficulty is that the situation is deteriorating and according to the advice I've received, there's the possibility it could break up and sink," Mr Joyce told the New Zealand Herald.

Officials said on Saturday that pumping oil from the stricken vessel could start on Sunday, depending on the damage of the ship and the weather.

The Department of Conservation has established two wildlife rescue centres and dispatched teams to scour the beaches and islands of the Bay of Plenty looking for oil-covered animals and birds.

Four seabirds were found dead in the oil slick on Thursday, and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said more birds covered in oil were discovered on Friday.

MNZ said it was preparing for the possibility the existing slick would hit the coast in the coming days after dispersants sprayed from aircraft proved ineffective.

"It has the potential to be very, very serious indeed, simply because of the age of the ship, the damage she's sustained, and the 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel on board," Andrew Berry of MNZ told Radio New Zealand.

MNZ has established a one-kilometre maritime exclusion zone around the ship and warned that the fuel oil is toxic.

The animal welfare group Forest and Bird said the timing of the accident, in the middle of the breeding season for birds, was "disastrous".

Australia is sending experts to New Zealand to help mop up the spill.

Three officials from the Sydney Ports Corporation are leaving for New Zealand on Saturday, along with more staff from New South Wales (NSW) Maritime and other agencies. The Australian state of New South Wales is also sending a large oil skimmer to assist the New Zealand authorities.

It is not known why the Liberian-flagged ship ran aground on the reef. None of the 25 crew was injured.

N.Zealand oil slick ship battened down as storm looms
(AFP) Google News 6 Oct 11;

WELLINGTON — Salvage crews scrambling to avert an environmental disaster in New Zealand's pristine Bay of Plenty battened down a stranded ship carrying 1,700 tonnes of oil on Monday as stormy weather loomed.

Fearing that the container vessel Rena would break apart in heavy seas and sink on the reef it struck last Wednesday, salvage teams installed covers designed to seal the ship's fuel tanks if it ends up on the sea bed.

They also lashed down shipping containers on the vessel's deck and moved the fuel from damaged tanks at the front of the vessel to more secure ones in the stern, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said.

MNZ salvage unit manager Bruce Anderson said sensors had been installed on the Liberian-flagged ship to alert officials if stress from rough weather began to tear the hull apart.

"That's a possibility, the weather is something we're keeping a close eye on along with the ship's structure," he told Radio New Zealand.

"Obviously the potential for serious consequences is there, and we're under no illusions about that -- that's why we're trying to work around the clock to get the oil off."

The government has warned that if the ship sinks and spews oil into the Bay of Plenty, which is home to whales, dolphins, penguins and seals, it could create New Zealand's largest maritime pollution disaster in decades.

The official forecaster MetService issued a severe weather warning for the bay, predicting that heavy rain and winds gusting up to 90 km/h (56 mph) would hit late Monday.

The salvage teams worked through the night, hoping to remove the oil before the bad weather arrived, but Anderson said that by Monday morning only 10 tonnes had been pumped onto a tanker moored beside the stricken vessel.

MNZ said safety concerns meant that pumping had to be suspended.

Discharge from the ship has already created a five-kilometre oil slick and killed a number of sea birds, with seven Little Blue penguins and two shags beng treated at wildlife rescue centres after being found covered in oil.

Some 250 people, including specialists from Australia, Britain, Holland and Singapore, have joined the oil slick response team, with 300 defence personnel on standby in case they are needed for shoreline clean-up work.

Oil from ship grounded off New Zealand reaches shore
BBC News 10 Oct 11;

Oil from a leaking ship stranded on a reef off the coast of New Zealand has begun washing ashore, as teams work to stabilise the vessel.

Fist-sized clumps of oil have been found on Mount Maunganui beach on the North Island.

The container ship, the 775ft (236m) Rena, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef on Wednesday.

Bad weather has forced a temporary halt to operations to pump oil off the vessel.

So far up to 30 tonnes of oil or fuel are believed to have spilled into the sea and more oil was reported to be leaking from the vessel on Tuesday.

Officials fear that if the ship breaks up in bad weather, 1,700 tonnes of fuel could be spilled.
'Round the clock'

A tanker moored alongside the vessel to offload the oil had to return to port after suffering minor damage. Strong seas meant the tanker would not have been able to resume operations anyway, officials said.

More bad weather is forecast later in the week and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said the off-loading operation would be carried out as fast as possible.

"The weather is expected to deteriorate in the coming days, so we are working around the clock to remove the oil," it said in a statement.

"The top priority is to first remove the oil, then lighten the vessel by removing the containers, and finally, move the ship off the reef."

About 200 people are involved in the salvage operation, while 300 military personnel are on stand-by to clean up beaches.

Officials have closed the affected beach and residents close to vulnerable coastlines have been told to stay out of the water.

MNZ said more oil was expected ashore in coming days.

"We are expecting oil to wash up on the shoreline south of Mount Maunganui but we don't know how much," it said.

Mayor of Tauranga Stuart Crosby said teams were doing all they could to bring the situation under control.

"The best people in the world are here now working incredibly hard under now challenging conditions, as you can see, to remove the oil and lessen the risk of an environmental catastrophe," he said.
Wildlife fears

Oil leaking from the Liberian-flagged Rena, stranded 12 nautical miles off the coast, has created a three-mile (5km) slick.

The department of conservation has established two wildlife rescue centres and dispatched teams to search the beaches and islands in the area for affected animals and birds.

Several oil-covered birds, including little blue penguins, have already been recovered.

Greenpeace has warned that whales and dolphins calving in the area could also be affected.

The owners of the ship, Greece-based Costamare Inc, have not given an explanation for the grounding, but said they were "co-operating fully with local authorities" to minimise any damage.

Prime Minister John Key, who flew over the scene in a helicopter on Sunday, said two inquiries to determine why the ship had hit the Astrolabe Reef were already under way.