1 Nov 2011

Fears Rena could break up in rough weather

6:46 pm on 1 November 2011

Maritime New Zealand is closely monitoring the container ship Rena as rough seas of up to five metres are forecast overnight Tuesday.

The authority says there's a strong possibility more containers will be lost overboard from the cargo vessel that's now been wedged on Astrolabe Reef 12 nautical miles from the coast of Tauranga for almost a month.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours is similar to the conditions that created large cracks in both sides of the Rena three weeks ago.

Maritime New Zealand's salvage unit manager Bruce Anderson, says on Sunday divers noticed additional buckling in the hull of the Rena.

He says the buckling is occurring at the point where the hull of the 236 metre vessel protrudes over deep water and is further down from the initial cracks.

Mr Anderson says the buckling has worsened on Tuesday because of the rough weather and there are now cracks on the starboard side as well as more buckling on the Rena's port side.

Four salvors have spent the day on board the Rena, monitoring the system and putting additional sensors on the vessel.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for salvage company Svitzer, Matthew Watson, has told Checkpoint there is a possibility the ship could break up overnight because of the presence of the new fractures.

He says a support ship will tow part of the vessel to shallow waters if it does break off.

Salvage efforts on board the ship were stopped on Monday because of rough weather.

More oil likely to spill

At least 359 tonnes of heavy fuel oil remains on the vessel.

Salvage co-ordinator Drew Shannon says there is still a lot of seawater on board, blocking access to the No 5 starboard tank, and more oil is likely to spill during the coming days.

He says removing the remaining oil is the priority, and authorities are assessing the weather hourly, so that work can resume as soon as it clears.

Maritime New Zealand says salvage crews are on standby on a support ship.