Despite salvage operations being suspended for two days due to high winds and swells, good progress was made on Rena this week. The total combined weight of steel removed is now approximately 430 tonnes, which is more than 20 per cent of the total weight to be removed.
The project remains on schedule. The RMG 280 crane barge was expected to arrive in port Friday, 14 September. With the arrival of the barge and a specialised team of divers from the United States, underwater salvage operations are expected to commence this week. The crane barge – which will operate from deeper water at the aft end of the bow section – can raise significantly larger pieces of steel (up to 40 tonnes) than the helicopters. The above water and underwater operations will run simultaneously.
Tasman Challenger to Clear Seabed
The Braemar/Unimar teams’ new vessel Tasman Challenger, bought in to help with the removal of debris from the surrounding seabed as the Rena’s bow section is cut away, has made a strong start. The 26m vessel has been specially fitted out for the role. Divers are sent down to hook lines to larger pieces of scrap which are lifted aboard by crane, and also fill baskets (which can hold over one tonne), with smaller items. More than 20 tonnes of container scrap, scrap steel, coils of wire and other material has been successfully recovered in little more than a day.
Remote Mooring System
It took some time before the Tasman Challenger teams could begin their work as a special ‘remote mooring’ had to be put in place. This mooring system allows the vessel to tie up to buoys instead of putting an anchor down. The mooring system means the Challenger can be quickly moved as necessary to accommodate the helicopter operations being carried out by the salvors, Resolve Salvage and Fire, who are continuing to cut down the bow section of the Rena.
996 Containers Recovered
On shore, beach cleanup work resumed on the Coromandel Peninsula early this week, after it had been halted by last weekend’s stormy weather. Surveys of Coromandel beaches have been completed and the survey team has continued south, down through the Bay of Plenty towards Gisborne. The total number of containers recovered has risen to 996.
Picture: Smit and Svitzer working in a joint salvage venture (Maritime New Zealand incident galery)