Oil continmues to leak from the stricken MSC Rena
December 5, 2011
More oil from the Rena, a cargo ship that has been grounded on a New Zealand reef for two months, is expected to wash up on the country’s beaches after the wreck was battered by recent strong swells, shipping authority officials said yesterday.
Oil has slowly leaked from the duct keel, a system of pipes running along the bottom of the ship, since the Liberian-flagged Rena grounded on 5 October and caused New Zealand’s worst environmental disaster.
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) official Mick Courtnell said salvors working on the Rena on Saturday saw blobs of oil floating from the wreck on the Astrolabe Reef, 12 nautical miles off the east of the north Island.
“Our team estimates a small amount – perhaps half a tonne – of weathered oil has been released, probably from the duct keel,” he said.
Courtnell said oil spill response teams would be on standby on beaches in the Bay of Plenty region to clean it up over the coming days.
“With the continuing swells we may see more of this oil come out of Rena,” he added.
Last month, animal rescue workers began releasing seabirds back to the wild after they had been cleaned and treated for oil contamination, and beaches in the Bay of Plenty region were reopened to the public.
Two senior officers from the Rena’s Filipino crew have been charged in connection with the grounding and the resulting oil contamination.
Courtesy of IFW
