MV Rena : And so it begins.

In my previous post I  warned that an environmental disaster upon us ( bit of a no brainer ) and today the reality of that prediction became evident both the bunker tanker Awanuia and HMNZS Endeavour  both are now in Tauranga. Stuff reports.

" Clumps of sticky, black, smelly oil are polluting the beach at Mt Maunganui, one of the country's most popular holiday spots following the grounding of the Rena container ship last Wednesday. More oil was expected to wash up near Papamoa within the next 24 hours amid worsening weather conditions.

Oil could continue to wash up for weeks, Transport Minister Steven Joyce said at a press conference this afternoon.

Estimates suggested anywhere from 10 to 50 tonnes of oil had gone in to the ocean. People were warned to stay off the beach and avoid all contact with the highly-toxic oil."

That is a problem with using dispersant's if they fail to disperse. Bad weather has stopped the oil recovery from MV Rena and it isn't going to get better any time soon.

" Recovery of oil from the ship was the first focus, Joyce said. Oil was being moved from the front to the back of the ship - work that was ongoing. Removal of the oil from the ship was "very challenging", with attempts to siphon it to a waiting barge today being disrupted by the weather conditions."

Now this is of concern to me I would like to know how far back.

The image shows just how on the reef MV Rena is take a look at this.

Now I would suggest that from the bridge house back isn't on the reef which makes me wonder how smart putting the oil in the back is, it may of course be that there is little choice I suspect know that the structural integrity of the ship is severely compromised and  bulkheads are collapsing as  was pointed out  on Paul Henry's Radio Live show last Friday the double hull has failed. If the ship breaks up and that is a real possibility I am told, it will probably be everything from the bridgehouse back that falls off.

I gather that there are other failures including the leader of the Opposition who was very critical of the the response to date on National Radio tonight.

Who is advising him ? I had a crack at the government on Friday for not moving faster 

" Endeavor should have been ordered to sea yesterday I accept that Awanuia is in private hands but that she is sailing to Tauranga  and Endeavor appears to be sitting on  her  backside raises questions in my mind about the competency of our public service to deal with a crisis our Navy should be able to do this, what the hell is happening at the Ministry of Defence and Maritime New Zealand."

I got that wrong and  failed to take into account logistical considerations. Goff should be able to get far more accurate information than me. Great picture but I gather it is  not the case.

Now here is something to think about when you put some cooking oil in a frying pan that is cold it doesn't run around the pan very well but as the pan heats up wow things change. Oil is oil and the oil on MV Rena isn't being kept warm the engines are turned off guess what keeps the oil warm ? 

" Clumps of sticky, black, smelly oil are polluting the beach at Mt Maunganui, one of the country's most popular holiday spots following the grounding of the Rena container ship last Wednesday. More oil was expected to wash up near Papamoa within the next 24 hours amid worsening weather conditions."

The oil that is washing up on the beach is reportedly like tar. That is the stuff you drive your car on it doesn't pump very well at cold temperatures.

Joyce was just on Close Up  and he as I was spell checking missed most of it as had the  volume muted but he made a good point about the opposition they are not getting good information.