Rena is settled on the reef, but is
moving around a little with high tides. The next tide is at 9am. The salvage
master and the head of the MNZ salvage unit are going out at first light to do
an observation flight. They will make an assessment of the vessel and a plan
will be developed to get the salvage crew back on board the vessel if it can be
done safely. Human safety must be the priority and no action will be taken that
will put lives at risk.
The second officer will appear in
Tauranga District Court this morning facing one charge laid by Maritime New
Zealand (MNZ) under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act (MTA) 1994,
"for operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk".
 |
| Oil washing up on the shoreline of Tauranga. |
Yesterday, 17 kilometres of coastline
was cleaned of oil. Clean-up teams have so far collected 50 tonnes of solid
waste and 5 tonnes of liquid waste. Today the coastline from Whangamata to
Whakatane will be assessed by the SCAT (Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Team) to
determine the areas of highest priority for cleanup. The teams will then work
methodically through the affected areas. There is a massive operation underway
today with around 500 responders on the beach.
Clean-up crews tackling oil spilled on
Bay of Plenty beaches from the cargo vessel Rena face a “long hard slog,” MNZ
National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn said "Our focus is on recovering
oil from wherever we find it and we will go in day by day until this is over.
"It's hard dirty work, but with
all the agencies involved and the community pulling together, we will get this
oil cleaned up," Mr Quinn said. The response team is working to coordinate
volunteer efforts and is asking for people to be patient as they put people in
place to manage these teams.
Community briefings are being held and
there are calls for volunteers.
Public notice - beach access
restricted : 13
October 2011: 11.30am
For members of the public:
Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef about 6
nautical miles north of Motiti
Island
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) is carrying
out oil spill response activities to respond to that event, and in the
interests of public safety considers it necessary to restrict access to certain
waterfront areas in the Bay
of Plenty
A marine oil spill response is being
carried out in the following area:
The area from Mount Maunganui
To enable the marine oil spill response
to be conducted, access to this area is restricted to those persons who are
part of the MNZ oil spill response.
Any person who wants to volunteer to
assist MNZ with beach clean ups can register at:
www.boprc.govt.nz/oilspillvolunteers or on 0800 645 774.
Rena response (media update 11): 12 October 2011: 6.30pm
 |
| A large crack appears in the side of the stricken vessel Rena |
The Rena has suffered substantial
structural failure, with a crack appearing in the number three cargo hold on
the starboard side. This has been caused by the movement of the vessel as the
stern, which has remained afloat, shifting with the waves, while the front part
of the ship remains stuck on the reef.
There is a concern that the stern of
the vessel may break away. The salvors have 3 tugs mobilised either to hold the
stern on the reef while further effort is made to remove the oil, or to tow the
stern to shallow water where they will remove the oil. Naval architects are
working on possible scenarios. Iwi are also involved in advising on any
cultural issues regarding moving or sinking the ship.
A number of containers have now come
off the vessel. Those remaining continue to move, making it extremely dangerous
for salvage crews to work on board. 6 vessels have been mobilised to intercept
the drifting debris in the water.
MNZ National on Scene Commander Nick
Quinn says he is confident that he has the people, equipment and plans to cope
with the increasing scale of the Rena response.
"Our experience means we have been
preparing for a worst case scenario right from the start. We already have
hundreds of well trained responders from a number of organisations across land,
sea and air operations, and have access to more if we need them.
 |
Debris from containers that have
toppled off the stricken Rena just off Tauranga
|
"Our priority is the here and now,
and cleaning up the oil. However this is not a quick fix so we are here for the
long haul," Mr Quinn says. "Until now we have had a light oiling of
beaches – this will significantly increase as more oil washes ashore over the
coming days.
“We are continuing our plans for
getting people onto the beach for the massive cleanup task.”
Oil
There will be substantial oil on the
beaches, in the water and on the foreshore. This is expected to result in
around 10,000 tonnes of sandy waste.
There are 20 teams on the beaches,
comprising about 250 people, cleaning up the oil.
Four vessels are in the harbour to deal
with any oil that may enter the area.
The ship's fuel tanks look intact and
are sealed units. The released oil may have come from the duct keel or an aft
tank. This will not be known till the vessel can be resurveyed.
Navy and Air Force helicopters are
undertaking surveillance flights to monitor the movement of oil at sea.
There will be a drop of Personal
Protective Equipment to iwi groups to allow monitoring of the foreshore in
their areas. This has been arranged through the iwi liaison team.
Exclusion zone
 |
Public health signs are put up along
the beach warning people to stay away from the water and shoreline
|
The exclusion zone around the ship has been extended. The new area runs from
Boat owners are reminded that fuel oil
that has escaped from the Rena may stick to boat hulls and gear and will need
to be cleaned off in a controlled environment.
Containers
 |
| A container that has toppled off the Rena washes up on the shoreline of Motiti island just off Tauranga |
Any containers that wash ashore remain
the property of the owners or insurers. Anyone found to be attempting to remove
the containers or take goods from them will face prosecution.
Public health
Health warnings are being issued to
prepare residents for worsening smells from the oil.
The oil spillage on the beaches,
combined with the current weather conditions, has produced in a noticeable
smell in some areas. This smell is likely to diminish over a period of one or
two hours from the time the oil reaches the beach.
Some people in the vicinity may
experience some physical discomfort. They are advised to shut windows and avoid
the immediate vicinity of the beaches and all immediate or secondary contact
with the oil spillage.
If anyone experiences any discomfort
they should move away to an area of fresh air.
Wildlife
 |
Oiled penguins being treated at the
wildlife rehabilitation facility set up at Tauranga
|
There are now 36 field teams currently out working on the wildlife response. From
In total, the Wildlife Response Centre
has 41 birds in its care – a mixture of shags, petrels, dottrels and little
blue penguins.
Three seals are also at the wildlife
facility, with two more on their way to the centre.
 |
A dead shag soaked in oil from the
grounded container ship 'Rena' lies on
|
200 dead birds have so far been
collected.
The response team is currently setting
traps for seals to check them for oil.
MNZ is also warning the public of scam
callers after reports to the Wildlife team reporting people receiving phone calls
asking for donations.
 |
One of the pied shags at the wildlife
restoration centre takes a swim to help restore its water proofing
|
Please do not pick up dead birds on the beach. Please call 0800 333 771 with the location of the birds and we will send trained teams to recover the birds. We need to keep counts of the birds to keep track of what species have perished so please report them to us.
Please DO NOT walk your dog on the
beach. This can be harmful to your pet.
Volunteers
 |
| Volunteers collect the initial oil coming onto the |
We need volunteers to help with the
beach cleanup. A volunteer beach clean up programme has been put in place.
Beach liaison volunteers will be on
beaches tomorrow morning to advise potential volunteers and the public what the
plan is.
Training of beach clean up supervisors
will be carried out tomorrow morning.
If you have already registered by phone
or email to be involved, the incident control centre will contact you sometime
in the next three days to arrange rostering.
If you want to volunteer and haven’t
done so yet, please call 0800 645 774 or email iccrena@gmail.com
Community briefings
There are 5 community briefings planned
over the next three days in the following areas:
Maketu, Wednesday 12 October, 6pm,
Maketu Fire Station
Mt Maunganui, Thursday 13 October, 6pm,
Mt Maunganui College
Papamoa, Thursday 13 October, 1pm,
Papamoa Sport and Recreation Centre
Mt Maunganui, Friday 14 October, 1pm,
Mt Maunganui College
Papamoa, Friday 14 October, 6pm,
Papamoa Sport and Recreation Centre
More community briefings are being
planned. Visit www.maritimenz.govt.nz/
incident for more information.
Second officer of grounded vessel
charged: 12 October 2011:
7.30pm
The second officer in charge of the
navigational watch of the vessel Rena is facing one charge laid by Maritime New
Zealand (MNZ) under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act (MTA) 1994,
"for operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or
risk".
He will appear in the Tauranga District
Court tomorrow morning (Thursday 13 October).
One s65 MTA charge has been laid.
This morning, the Master of the vessel
appeared in the Tauranga District Court facing the same charge. He was remanded
on bail until 19 October, on the condition he surrender his passport. His name
is suppressed.
The s65 charge carries a maximum
penalty of $10,000, or a maximum term of imprisonment of 12 months.
MNZ will make no further comment while
the matter is before the courts.
Source: Maritime New
Zealand
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