Ten months have past since the container ship Rena went aground on Astrolabe Reef.  The bow section still remains above the surface, but has increased its list from 22 degrees to 32 degrees.   Salvors are still working on removing the wreck of the reef.   Helicopters are lifting 1 to 2 ton cut pieces of the hull to a nearby salvage vessel.  This removal is slated to take some 100 days to complete.   The stern section remains below the surface between 10 to 80 meters deep.    No decision has been made to the final outcome of the stern section.

Pollution

Focus has been on shoreline clean-up work of plastic particulates.   The plastic has been washing up along 38 beaches around Tauranga.   The pollution is spread over a wide area.  Containers are also being removed from the seabed.  By August 2012, some 977 out of 1368 containers have been recovered.   Many containers are being recovered using ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles) from depths up to 50 meters deep.