The 133 meter long, 8015 dwt container ship Schelde Trader went aground near the entrance to Tauranga, New Zealand. The Schelde Trader was departing Tauranga when it suffered a power failure and lost steering. The current then carried the disabled vessel onto the rocks. Reports state the damage was slight and the vessel was refloated and taken back to harbour by the tug Te Matua. No reports of injuries or pollution being released. The Schelde Trader will be inspected and officials have stated there will be an investigation into the incident. The Schelde Trader had stopped in Tauranga to refuel and was headed to Noumea, New Caledonia. The grounding of the Schelde Trader is less than a month after the container ship Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef off the Tauranga coast.
Over 800 tons of oil has been removed from the Rena as the salvage team completed pumping out the port number five tank. The remaining 600 tons are located in other four other tanks. The starboard number 5 tank is submerged will be much more difficult task. The salvage team needs to reach an underwater manhole access hatch in pitch black conditions with everything disoriented due to the heavy list. The team is trying to dam off the section and pump out the water around it to gain access. The starboard number 5 tank has 350 tons of oil to be removed. In addition, there are three other tanks in the engine room holding a combined 250 tons of oil still to go. Salvors are also attempting to pump out oil from the settling tanks. The remaining amount of oil in the settling tanks is not known but estimates place it under 100 tons.
Containers
The heavy crane vessel Pancaldo has arrived on scene and has removed some containers from the sea floor. The Pancaldo will begin salvage operations and removal of containers off the deck of the Rena when oil removal has completed. In addition, the vessel Brandy Wine is also being used in recovery of containers. The Brandy Wine has already remove containers from Motiti Island.
Environmental Cleanup
Reports state over 808 tons of waste has been collected so far by over 6,700 people. The cleanup effort has been split between cleaning up oil and the pollution resulting from the contents of the containers. Reports state the cleanup process will continue as several beaches that get re-oiled and re-cleaned daily. Officials have ended the need for volunteers to register to help with cleanup efforts. They have requested that volunteers to just turn up. More than 1300 oiled birds have died with another 885 being treated at wildlife facilities. Officials have added six enclosures specialized for penguins. Currently, there are over 300 penguins being housed at Te Maunga.
The container ship Rena continues to be firmly stuck on the astrolabe reef off Tauranga, New Zealand. The bow section has not moved, but the stern section has begun to shift to further to port. The vessel is now twisted with the large cracks along both sides of the hull. This leaves the vessel structurally unsound and unable to be pulled off the reef. If the heavy oil can be removed, tugs may attempt to tow the stern section away from the reef to deeper water where it would be allowed to sink.
The salvage crew were unable to pump oil off the Rena due to the heavy swells. There had been concerns that the vessel would break up in the rough weather, but conditions improved allowing the three man crew to return to the vessel. Their focus is now to continue pumping out the port tank which holds around 700 tons of heavy oil.
