Rena cargo ship update

Divers are cutting into parts of the submerged stern section to gain access to containers for removal. Container and debris recovery The Braemar recovery team is investigating reports of debris washing ashore on Great Barrier Island. The team will fly over the island as soon as weather conditions are favourable to assess the situation. Braemar NZ Operations Manager Neil Lloyd says that staff will respond accordingly, deploying a fast response craft and clean up teams to deal with the matter.

Meanwhile, clean up operations on the Coromandel are continuing. Methods for collecting plastic beads have been finalised and will be into action next week, as the weather improves. On Matakana Island, debris has been collected and stockpiled ready to be heli-lifted for disposal. With containers still on board at that time, it was estimated that some were lost overboard when it broke in half. As the seas calmed, damage to Rena could be seen during a morning observation flight on January 9th.

One day later, on January 10th, the stern of the Rena slipped off the reef and began to submerge. Here it is above moments prior to sinking with more debris in the surrounding waters. Image: Maritime New Zealand. Image: LOC. Despite numerous setbacks, container removal on the bow section made good progress with the help of the crane barge Smit Borneo.

The photo above is from January 31st. Life on a lean. Image: Svitzer. Containers pushed the hatch covers off the deck of the bow section. They would later need to be chained down to prevent them falling overboard.

Heavy seas on March 21st cause the stern section to deteriorate rapidly over a hour period. The swells eventually caused the stern section to slip off the reef, as seen in this photo from April 4th. Continuing into May , salvage cranes lift containers and debris the forward section of Rena. Image: Smit and Svitzer working in a joint salvage venture. On May 25th, the Master and Second Officer would each be sentenced to seven months imprisonment for their role in the grounding.

The men were later released after serving only half their sentences. A salvage crane lifts the last hatch cover from the forward section in the above photo from May 28th. The shot above shows all the hatch covers removed from the forward section of Rena on June 1st.

The operation marked the end of the the container recovery stage. Above, a photo of air lift operations on August 15th. The helicopter was picking up oxygen bottles for transport to the salvage team on board Rena, to be used in cutting operations.

Cut sections of the Rena laid on the transport barge for later removal from the site. In the photo above, a technician can be seen cutting and removing side shell sections at the prow. A helicopter hovering above, outside the frame, held a line attached to the piece being cut.

The helipad was erected on the prow to facilitate access. In early September, heavy swells forced a piece of the bow section to break off. An exhaustive salvage effort continued to remove as much of the wreckage as possible, although a large debris field remained at the site after several year. In , a New Zealand court ruled that what remained of the Rena shipwreck could be abandoned at the site , but the owners would need to pay for on-going costs. Have a news tip? Let us know. Indictment alleges the owners and operators of the broken pipeline that leaked thousands of gallons of oil into San Pedro Bay in October continued to operate the pipeline for hours The National Transportation Safety Board has issued eight safety recommendations stemming from its investigation into the June car carrier fire in Jacksonville, Florida.

Salvage crews have attached beacons and buoys to some containers so they can be more easily recovered later. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

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