NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution

Subject: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Gurney
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 01:55 AM

What with the Christchurch earthquakes, -the aftershocks are still going on!- and now this bloody ship up on the Astrolabe Reef, we could use a break.
The reef has been charted for about 150 years, but a container ship found it. Now it is breaking up and is releasing bunker oil into a the sea, and it started reaching the shore in bulk today. So far over 500 dead seabirds, and that's only the counted ones, and 'only some' of the fuel-oil has leaked so far.
This stuff seems to be more like tar than oil. The authorities don't want the locals to get involved with it unsupervised, but to wait until they are organised and controlled. Fat chance, the residents are out there with their shovels.
No doubt Little Robin will be able to give a first-hand report later, it is her patch.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Little Robyn
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 02:28 AM

Nowhere near us Chris. It's more likely to be blown up towards you.
They're just saying the ship is owned by a Greek company. Do they expect to get any money out of the Greeks?
A few days before, it was sailing close to us, out from Napier and apparently it very nearly collided with another ship!
The crew is from the Philippines and the Captain was having a birthday the day it struck the reef. Happy Birthday! He's been charged already.
The weather has been terrible and the ship has just about split across the middle. The containers are falling off and floating to shore.
The area relies on tourism, including fishing and lovely beaches in summer - it should have been getting into gear shortly. But not now. You can't eat any fish or shellfish taken from there and swimmers won't want to get in the water. The charter owners are going to be out of business. Many of them operate from near the Astrolabe reef but the fish won't be there now.
And then there's the bird life.....
Yuck!
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 03:46 AM

NZ says oil spill is country's worst video

More oil spills from stranded cargo ship photo of ship before containers fell

New Zealand arrests stricken ship's captain - includes video & photo of listing ship with leaning containers

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: mcpiper
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 04:30 AM

Hi guys, it's just up the coast from me, but for the fog we could have seen it when we had practice the other night.
The environmental damage is going to be far reaching and ongoing, but from my perpective the real damage has been done by the sensationalist press we have here. They will interview some one and not give them a chance to give an in depth logical, reasoned and informed answer. I have just watched a half hour talk forum and learned more than from the so called news.
The PR has been abismal, the wrong people being asked the wrong questions, and then the rabid interviewer almost screaming retoric at the person.
It is a catastophic disaster, but not helped bythe idiot press we seem to have to put up with here.
If I get a chance I might go and have a look for myself, and keep you updated.
Latest is the rough wheather has caused the ship to crack, containers have fallen overboard and there is a chance of it breaking up. Then we will see a gutterpress free for all.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: gnu
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 03:13 PM

Just awful!

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 09:36 PM

I am so sorry. Yes, NZ could use a break, not a container ship that might break.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: freda underhill
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 10:02 PM

Such a fantastic place and people - yes, you've had a very tough time, and need awareness, help and support from around the globe. I'll be watching this thread for updates

condolences and regards

freda

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Fossil
Date: 12 Oct 11 - 10:18 PM

The really tragic thing about the Rena shipwreck seems to be the stunning levels of incompetence shown by everyone who has had anything official to do with it.

First the captain and his officers who managed to find, and hit, a reef hazard 13 nautical miles offshore of the port they were heading for - one that has been clearly marked on the charts for over 100 years - in broad daylight, in perfect visibility, going at 17 knots - full steam ahead, or nearly for that class of vessel. No excuses there: the captain and his first officer have both rightly been charged with offences under the Maritime Safety Act and they are the principal culprits.

Highlighting also the fact that while being in Greek ownership, the ship is Liberian-registered under a flag of convenience and sailing with a mainly Filipino crew, a well known economy measure in shipping circles. Also indicative is the fact that the ship had failed technical inspections at more than one of the ports it had previously visited.

Next, New Zealand's supine and useless Maritime NZ agency, which let the wreck sit on the reef for five whole days in perfect weather and calm seas and did nothing at all. Until the last couple of days, in the face of a gathering storm, they managed to get 0.1% of the heavy crude oil pumped off the vessel, then had to abandon any further efforts for another day or two while the wreck, which is sitting with its heavily damaged front section on the reef and its back section in much deeper water, started (predictably) to break up and drop hundreds of containers into the water.

And last but not least, the onshore authorities, responsible for dealing with the oil spill which is now coming ashore on the finest beaches in the world, whose efforts so far seem to have been to tell concerned locals to go away and - again over a week after the event - putting up notices to warn of the hazard.

On the radio as I'm writing this is a news report that Maritime NZ has issued closure notices for all the beaches in the Bay of Plenty area. But, get this, people found on the beaches won't be arrested or prosecuted. Huh?

Meanwhile, desperate locals, environmentalists, animal welfare organisations, surfer groups and others are pleading with the authorities to be allowed to get started on the clean-up, only to be rebuffed, on the grounds that oil disposal requires training to do. I ask you! How complicated is it to be issued with a pair of gloves, a shovel and a bucket and pointed towards the sea?

I did just that when the Torrey Canyon wrecked all the beaches on the north coast of Cornwall, UK and while one individual's efforts looked pretty puny against five miles of black, stinking sand, I felt that I was doing my bit.

There's a lot of anger here in NZ at the moment.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Fossil
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 12:07 AM

PS Mudelves, could we re-title this thread: "Rena shipwreck - NZ Oil pollution" or something like that. The current thread title says nothing much about the disaster that's ongoing.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Fossil
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 04:46 AM

A very sad moment on TV at 18:00 tonight: distraught local lady weeping over the damage that has been caused to "her" beach. Even though she - like me - is a fairly recent immigrant, the natural beauty of NZ is such that everyone is very protective of it.

Even though I'm on the other side of the North Island, I know exactly how she feels and how I'd feel - the personal sense of violation you feel when a place you love (like Cornwall was) is desecrated, violated by ignorant, stupid people operating complex systems with no real understanding of what they are doing.

And the local authority is still maintaining its principled stand against allowing "unqualified" people onto the beach, on safety grounds.

This one will run and run...

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Gurney
Date: 14 Oct 11 - 03:37 AM

Sad film of conservators trying to catch the endangered NZ Dotterel before the oil hits their reserve. They can't do anything about their eggs, (Sping, here) and seem to be having to abandon them, and waste a generation instead of a population. Not the resources available to raise the chicks in captivity, they are hoping to capture about 40 of the small shore bird and keep them alive until they can be released into a clean environment again.
Less than 2000 Dotterel total. At the moment.

Counted dead seabirds 1000. That great fishing/diving reef, no-one is even making a guess if it will ever recover. The containers are being ripped off the ship and opened by the battering. The ship has a twist now.

Subject: RE: BS: NZ could use a break....
From: Fossil
Date: 14 Oct 11 - 05:09 AM

Slightly more positive twist to the news tonight: thousands of volunteers are now being organised to help with the clean-up. Some communities are themselves personally paying for special compounds like alginates and using them to remove oil from rocks in their areas.

What does that say about the level and timeliness of "official" support? And politicians of all levels are hastening to add their spin to things - ludicrous pictures of the Labour Party's guy doing a photo-opp in white shirt, tie and shiny black shoes, shovelling oil off a beach. (Guess who believed he stayed there more than two minutes? Nobody, right!).

John Key, our Prime Minister has been shuttling back and forth round the region to not much effect, but at least he sensibly refused the offer of a shovel, saying he'd be better occupied coordinating... Not that much of that seems to be happening yet, but things are gradually coming together.

Pity about the dotterels. eh?

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Little Robyn
Date: 14 Oct 11 - 05:50 PM

Hey Chris, the wind is blowing the oil slick away from Whakatane - it's headed your way, unless it gets caught going around the Coromandel Peninsula.
The current talk is that it will disperse.
But what about all the other fish and birds out at sea?
Everything's gotta go somewhere and the beach is easier to clean than the sea floor. This could ruin fishing all around the north east coast for years.
Accountability doesn't fix the danger!
Robyn

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Gurney
Date: 14 Oct 11 - 07:15 PM

Hi, Robyn. At least if the oil lands here, we do have the population to get out and collect it. Like you, I'm also wondering if any proportion of the oil sinks. It looks almost solid, like a paste.

For non-Kiwis. NZ is a country the size of Britain, with a coastline longer than the USA (it twists a bit,) and a population half the number of New York City. Just over 4 million, half of us in Auckland.
If the slick blows onto the Coromandel Peninsula, there's no-one there to pick it up, and that is a rocky coast mostly, anyway. You'd never scrape it off.

Weather has improved, salvors are trying to get the rest of the oil off the ship. Beaches covered in Angus hamburger patties for your Big Mac, recyclable plastic, animal hides, timber, milk products. And oil. I wouldn't have believed that the sea could so thoroughly wreck shipping containers. Some are pulled to pieces. Tugs are collecting floating containers. The oil is going to a dump, so that our grandchildren will be able to enjoy it, too. Too polluted itself to salvage!

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: mcpiper
Date: 14 Oct 11 - 08:19 PM

Things have changed here in Whakatane, the oil is expected in the Eastern Bay, one charter boat operator is getting out while he can, as soon as the oil gets here the harbour closes, that means any boat trying to operate after that is not insured.
All we can do is get rid of the stuff as we can, pointing blame just uses energy better used in the clean up.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 11 - 02:44 AM

Fears grow for stricken NZ ship Salvage experts say they do not know how much longer the vessel at the centre of New Zealand's worst maritime pollution disaster can hold together.

After 10 days grounded on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty, the container ship Rena is still carrying over 1,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and diesel.

Maritime New Zealand salvage coordinator, Bruce Anderson, says there are indications that the oil leak has been stemmed.

Large cracks have opened up on both sides of the ship's hull and there have been concerns the ship's stern may break away.

Now Mr Anderson says new information shows the ship's stern is less supported by the reef than first thought.

"Divers have indicated the stern is in a precarious situation as a portion of the vessel is still floating in deeper water, while the front of the vessel is firmly grounded on the reef," he said.

"So it's not as stable as we had hoped."

Salvage crews working on board are expected to start pumping oil to a nearby tanker on Sunday.   (more, including new pic)

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Gurney
Date: 16 Oct 11 - 02:53 AM

The salvors are ready to start pumping oil from the tank they can reach. Another tank is submerged. 350 tonnes have leaked.
The ship is well onto the reef by the bows, but the reef is steep and the stern is in deep water. The crack on the port side is a metre wide, and you can see that the ship is twisted. The weather is ideal.

Help has come once again from our friends. Bird specialists are on the job, having come from Australia and the U.S.A., and maybe elsewhere, I missed some of the bulletin.

The Aussies say that although they are happy to help with our birds, they are still going to root for Oz in the semi-final.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 11 - 04:13 AM

Aussies barrack! Kiwi eats roots & leaves.

sandra (totally uninterested in footy)


Mudcatter Canberra Chris's Rugby Song

We are large, but we are stupid,
And from all the rugby lands we come
With leather balls, and silly headgear,
I am, youse are, we are the rugby ones

Based on 'I Am Australian', Australia's 'Land of Hope and Glory'.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 16 Oct 11 - 03:26 PM

32 photos of the spill, from the Atlantic online: Oil Spill Disaster on New Zealand Shoreline

In general, this is getting little coverage over here.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Oct 11 - 09:57 PM

I found these user-submitted pics by following your link, Becky, thanks for posting it.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Little Robyn
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 10:10 PM

The ship broke apart last night.

They had managed to salvage most of the containers sitting on top but there were twice as many down below and they're likely to float away and/or sink, spilling their contents everywhere. Lots of milk powder, I believe.
Not to mention more oil killing more birds!
Yuk!
Robyn

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Little Robyn
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 10:19 PM

Here's another report with video from BBC news.
The bit that's still stuck seems to be the half with containers on top. Maybe they can retrieve them before they take off????
Robyn

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST,Fossil at work
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 12:56 AM

Have just looked at the TV helicopter footage of the broken wreck being swept by heavy seas (up to 7 metre waves at times were experienced in the area). The front part of the ship, on the reef in very shallow water seems to still be firmly fixed in position and isn't moving. The after part is rolling and moving as the waves come in and has sagged off to one side.

Interestingly, clearly visible in the troughs of the waves on the starbord side of the bow section is a large rock, part of the reef. Still wondering how the crew managed to drive straight into it at 17 knots.

All the on-borad containers have, apparently been fitted with tracking devices so the ones that go into the sea should be findable when the weather changes.

No oil leaks yet - most of the heavy stuff has been taken off the wreck over the last couple of months, anyway, but there is said to be one tank left.

Captain and first officer will be in court in mid-Feb to answer charges.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 01:03 AM

I saw a video on a news website earlier - very scary with all those containers & an oil tank likely to cause lots more problems

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 08:41 PM

The really sad part of this whole fiasco is that some of the containers have the personal belongings of those emigrating to/from New Zealand inside. Those containers that ended up in the water will of course be water-logged and the contents destroyed.

I remember in July 2007 when the container ship the MSC Napoli got beached near Sidmouth in Devon - incidentally off a World Heritage Coast site. Many (most) of the containers that washed up were looted by the locals and visitors alike - INCLUDING those containing other people's personal effect. Not good.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Janie
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 10:40 PM

Thanks for refreshing this thread, LR. I read about the ship breaking apart this morning. The containers, the massive litter, and the loss of personal belongings is bad enough. The likelihood of another significant oil spill is even worse.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: vectis
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 10:53 AM

The same firm owned the Napoli as owned the Rena.

It took the officials over two years to clear the wreck off the site the locals would have done it much more quickly. Seaside residents have always looked upon wrecks as bounty from the sea in much the same way as a shoal of mackerel. It might not be right but it is a long held tradition.

There were warnings of hypodermic syringes on the beach for three summer seasons after the wreck, the warning signs weren't there this summer, presumably the needles would have rusted away by then.

IMHO MSC seem to be a real bunch of cowboy operators and when I emigrate I will make sure my container doesn't end up on one of their vessels.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Fossil
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 05:00 PM

News for today: 150 containers out of a possible 300 went into the sea over the weekend: to date 45 have been identified and will eventually be recovered. So far 12 of them have washed ashore. A picture in the Dominion Post today shows Wahi Beach covered with hundreds of bags of milk powder and a couple of containers. Some looting has been reported, but police are on scene. Beach cleanup crews are moving in once cargo is identified.

The Oiled Wildlife Team has been checking islands and beaches in the area for oiled sea-birds, but oil spillage doesn't seem to be a very serious problem as yet.

So boaties in the NZ East Coast area: keep a very good look-out, there are still about 125 containers in the water, some of which will have sunk, but some may be bobbing about and may be for years to come...

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 05:20 PM

It is rumoured that what sank the Irish schooner / tallship 'Asgard 2' was a submerged but floating container that had been washed oof a ship in a stro some weeks earlier. She was actually lost in the Bay of Biscay at about 2 am. The hull was holed by something large. She sank in about 10 minutes but thanks to good training no-one was lost. The Government deigned to raise her and promptly cancelled its youth tall ship sail training programe.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 05:27 PM

Dominion Post link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6233993/Stern-of-split-Rena-sinking

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 02:07 AM

thanks for the link, CJB

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 05:31 AM

Rena sinking intensifies pollution

Posted at 12:39pm Tuesday 10th Jan, 2012

Rena's splitting and sinking of its stern is increasing marine pollution levels with more oil spewing into the sea and industrial substances washing ashore onto Bay of Plenty beaches.

The vessel's stern section began slipping off the Astrolabe Reef at about 8.30am and by 11.30am it was almost entirely underwater.
The ship's bow remains fast to the reef, close to where it originally ran aground on October 5.

Large amounts of oil can be seen emanating from the wreck.

It is not seeping from one point, but instead most of the water surrounding the broken vessel has taken on an oiled hue.

Maritime New Zealand national on scene commander Alex van Wijngaarden says trajectory modellings shows the first of this newly released oil will wash ashore at Motiti Island this evening.

"This was not unexpected," says Alex, "we are prepared, and we will deal with it."

More oil is predicted to reach Pukehina on Wednesday.

This oil follows a considerable rainbow sheen of oil on the sea's surface that today drifted into Tauranga Harbour through its northern entrance.

Places near here; Waihi Beach and Matakana Island, are the most badly polluted by floating containers and debris to fall into the water following Saturday's storm.

It was this storm that broke the Rena into two pieces with a 20-30m gap between them.

Oil spill response teams are preparing to clean up the newly released oil, including placing booms in sensitive areas.

The oiled wildlife centre at Te Maunga is being reactivated.

The volunteer programme is also reactivated, with volunteers asked to register at www.boprc.nz/oilspillvolunteers

More containers are expected to have come free from the vessel owing to this morning's sinking of the ship's stern section.

Container recovery company Braemar Howells estimates that 400 containers are in the stern section of the Rena.

Its spokesman, Grant Dyson, says two tugs have been sent to the Rena to try and contain drifting containers and also tow any floating containers to a specialised recovery barge.

Most of the debris sighted in the water and on beaches on Monday was timber, polystyrene and milk powder bags.

Some other items, such as wheelbarrow wheels and a sofa were found on Matakana Island.

On Matakana Island's ocean side beach today some new substances have been found.

These include 25kg bags of low density polyethylene (ldpe). This is a substance used in the manufacture of light plastics such as kitchen containers.

Speaking from Matakana Island, Sun Media director Brian Rogers says these granules are covering at least 1km of beach.

This is about 7-8km from Mount Maunganui.

The bags the granules were transported in aboard the Rena appear similar to the milk powder bags seen at beaches in the northern Western Bay of Plenty on Monday.

Brian says other pollution on the beach includes 'egg fried rice' microwave meals, thousands of pottles of rice, skirting board and plywood.

There is also oil washed up on the ocean side beach. It is up to the high tide mark and is mixed with seaweed and other sea life stranded there.

A Maritime New Zealand clean-up crew is working on the beach to clear this oil.

Photos at:

http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/20611-rena-sinking-intensifies-pollution.html

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: GUEST,CJB
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 05:51 AM

More here:

http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/20619-renas-reef-slip-drops-two-containers.html

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Jack Campin
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 08:09 AM

"Pottle" was a new one on me.

I Prefer Pottle

The Word Detective

I enver heard it when I lived in NZ so I guess it must have been invented over the last generation.

Subject: RE: NZ needs a break-Rena shipwreck-NZ Oil pollution
From: Jack Campin
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 08:15 AM

Meanwhile. A couple of facts about the country that ship came from:

Greek shipowners pay no taxes

The Greek poor abandoning their own children because they can't afford to feed them