Maritime New Zealand Update

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”.

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.