The National On Scene Commander has reduced the emergency oil spill response to the Rena grounding from a Tier 3, or national level, to a Tier 2, or regional level response. Furthermore, due to good weather conditions salvors have been able to make good progress removing containers and debris from the wreck over the past week.
Lowering the oil spill response means the Bay of Plenty Regional Council will now assume responsibility for ongoing monitoring and future clean-up activity with respect to any further oil spilled from the wreck. This decision was made in consultation with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and as a result of careful analysis of several key factors:
– Regular assessments of the wreck confirmed the threat of a further significant oil spill from the wreck was minimal.
– Ongoing and regular surveys by the oil spill response team of previously affected areas confirmed very low levels of residual oil in the environment and very minimal amounts of oil coming ashore. The levels are so low that clean-up activity has not been warranted.
– Site visits to previously affected areas with key stakeholders, including the regional council, Iwi and environmental experts confirmed they have reached a level where no further clean-up activity is needed.
– The volume of calls from the public reporting sightings of oil on the beaches or in the water has been consistently low for the past few months. Although National On Scene Commander Rob Service said the transition marked a real milestone in the response to the Rena grounding, he indicated this is not the end, ‘the response has simply been reduced from a national level to a regional level. Members of the public may still find residual oil on beaches from time to time.’
Good Progress Salvage Work
Svitzer has continued to make good progress removing containers and debris from the Rena wreck over the past week. Salvors have been cutting into containers to allow contents to be removed using the heavy lift helicopter and have also focused on cutting up hatch covers and removing them from the wreck. Favourable weather conditions have allowed dive operations around the stern section to locate and remove bags of debris from the sea bed around the wreck. At Astrolabe Reef, there are currently moderate W-SW winds, which are expected to persist through until Monday morning. There are swells of around 1m at the reef. The National On Scene Commander has reduced the emergency oil spill response to the Rena grounding from a Tier 3, or national level, to a Tier 2, or regional level response. Furthermore, due to good weather conditions salvors have been able to make good progress removing containers and debris from the wreck over the past week. Lowering the oil spill response means the Bay of Plenty Regional Council will now assume responsibility for ongoing monitoring and future clean-up activity with respect to any further oil spilled from the wreck. This decision was made in consultation with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and as a result of careful analysis of several key factors:
– Regular assessments of the wreck confirmed the threat of a further significant oil spill from the wreck was minimal.
– Ongoing and regular surveys by the oil spill response team of previously affected areas confirmed very low levels of residual oil in the environment and very minimal amounts of oil coming ashore. The levels are so low that clean-up activity has not been warranted.
– Site visits to previously affected areas with key stakeholders, including the regional council, Iwi and environmental experts confirmed they have reached a level where no further clean-up activity is needed.
– The volume of calls from the public reporting sightings of oil on the beaches or in the water has been consistently low for the past few months.
Oil May Still Come
Although National On Scene Commander Rob Service said the transition marked a real milestone in the response to the Rena grounding, he indicated this is not the end, ‘the response has simply been reduced from a national level to a regional level. Members of the public may still find residual oil on beaches from time to time.’
Good Progress Salvage Work
Svitzer has continued to make good progress removing containers and debris from the Rena wreck over the past week. Salvors have been cutting into containers to allow contents to be removed using the heavy lift helicopter and have also focused on cutting up hatch covers and removing them from the wreck. Favourable weather conditions have allowed dive operations around the stern section to locate and remove bags of debris from the sea bed around the wreck. At Astrolabe Reef, there are currently moderate W-SW winds, which are expected to persist through until Monday morning. There are swells of around 1m at the reef.
Picture: Containers are being cut apart by the salvors to access and remove the goods inside (Maritime New Zealand)
Source: Maritime New Zealand
The pictures in the photo album have all been publsihed on the Maritime New Zealand incident gallery and have been made by Maritime New Zealand, LOC, Smit and Svitzer, Mark Alen, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Dudley Clemens, and the New Zealand Defence Force. When transferring these pictures from the old to the new website, we have unfortunately lost the photo credits per photo. We are working on restoring this information.
