Race to salvage stricken tanker as leaking oil harms wildlife

Clean-up: workers collect oil from a beach in the Bay of Plenty today
Richard Porritt12 April 2012

Storms heading for New Zealand are set to batter a stricken ship which has already spilled 300 tonnes of oil into the sea - causing the country's worst ever environmental disaster.

More than 1,700 tonnes of oil remain on the Liberia-flagged Rena and marine experts are frantically working to stop the bad weather ripping further holes in the ship.

The 775ft ship ran aground last Wednesday on the Astrolabe Reef, about 14 miles from Tauranga Harbour, ripping a hole in one of the tanks.

Clean-up teams were working through worsening weather to pick up clumps of oil washed ashore in the Bay of Plenty.

Because the Rena is a cargo ship rather than an oil tanker, any leak will be small in comparison with disasters such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. But because the ship is close to shore, the oil could still damage an area known for its pristine environment.

Maritime New Zealand said a barge had begun pumping fuel from the ship, but work had been called off to keep crews safe from heavy swells and gale-force winds forecast to hit the area. The operation is expected to take at least two more days once it resumes.

Salvage experts and naval architects are on board. "The top priority is to remove the oil, then lighten the vessel by removing the containers, and finally, move the ship off the reef," a Maritime New Zealand spokesman said.

Environment minister Nick Smith added: "This event has come to a stage where it is New Zealand's most significant maritime environmental disaster." Conservationists have warned the spill is a huge threat to wildlife. "There are thousands of gannets and petrels and shearwaters and hundreds of blue penguins... And we've got dotterels and oystercatchers on the sandy beaches," said WWF spokesman Bob Zuur

The owner of the ship, Greece-based Costamare, said it was "co-operating fully with local authorities".

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