Maritime New Zealand says the recovery of oil that's leaked from a grounded container ship off the coast of Tauranga, has been delayed because of safety concerns.
However, the company charged with the salvage of the ship says rough seas could further damage it.
A spokesperson for Svitzer Salvage, Matthew Watson, says oil needs to be secured then removed before any refloat attempt is possible.
He says the outlook for the ship has improved, but more oil could end up in the water.
"The vessel is damaged in the hull; there could be residual oil flushing around and that could be influenced by waves lapping against it or by tidal movements. So, while it is certainly looking better today (Saturday), no-one should be complacent."
Maritime New Zealand's salvage adviser, Captain John Walker, says the operation to pump fuel off the grounded vessel may start by Sunday evening.
But MetService is forecasting rough seas and winds of up to 60km/h to start developing in Bay of Plenty from Sunday.
[image:3287:full]Transport Minister Steven Joyce says a draft plan to recover the stranded vessel was received from the company running the salvage on Friday. He says experts are here from Australia, the Netherlands, Britain and Singapore.
The 47,000-tonne Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef, some 12 nautical miles off the coast, about 2.20am on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old vessel was carrying about 1700 tonnes of fuel and among its cargo are four containers of the hazardous substance ferro-silicon.
Maritime New Zealand's operation's manager Mick Courtnell estimates about 10 tonnes of leaked oil is currently in the water, which will take several hours to recover. He says the vessels that are immediately available, can help in the recovery effort, but are very limited in terms of crew safety.
Mr Courtnell says, by Tuesday morning at the latest, there will be enough equipment on site to accommodate all the oil still on the grounded vessel.
He says he decided not to use small boats that were immediately available because of safety concerns.
The navy ship Endeavour is due to arrive on Sunday afternoon and will be used in the oil recovery operation.
The authority says more black oil has been found leaking from the ship despite a flight over the vessel earlier on Saturday showing the leak appeared to have stopped.
Rough weather forecast
The MetService is warning of deteriorating weather conditions in the area.
A MetService forecaster, Geoff Sanders, says rough seas are expected, particularly later on Monday, going into Tuesday. He says there is forecast to be north-easterlies winds of around 30 knots and rough seas.
Maritime New Zealand says an observation flight on Saturday showed the oil seemed to have stopped flowing for the time being and that the slick is predominantly sheen, or very thinly spread oil.
National on-scene commander Rob Service said applications of chemical dispersant were being put on standby until any further thick patches of oil are identified.
He said the dispersant is only effective on thicker concentrations of oil.
Mr Service said the oil sheen was moving away from nearby islands and spreading west from the ship.
Ship not breaking up - owner
The ship's owner, Costamare Inc., says checks on the ship show hull stresses are within allowable limits and, while seriously damaged, the ship is not in immediate danger of breaking up.
[image:3291:half:right]Spokesperson Pat Adamson says the salvage company Svitzer plans to start removing containers from the ship using a crane barge.
Svitzer expected the operation to remove fuel from the stranded vessel would be under way by Monday.
Maritime New Zealand said criticism that the fuel transfer was taking too long was unfounded. "This is a very large and extensively damaged vessel," spokesperson Sophie Hazlehurst said.
"The last thing we want is for a company to rush in and try and get that fuel off without taking all the necessary precautions, otherwise we will almost certainly wind up with oil in the water."
Three Navy ships, the Rotoiti, Taupo and Manawanui, were due to arrive on Saturday afternoon along with an Iroquois helicopter. About 500 New Zealand Defence Force personnel are on standby for a shoreline cleanup if needed.
Maritime New Zealand said is asking anyone who sees what they think may be oil on a shoreline to ring 0800 OIL SPILL (0800 645 774).
