Mv Rena : It gets worse.

OK things have gone badly wrong today, but this was always going to happen the issue was would it happen with the oil on board or after we had got it off. I have been reading various opinions on blogs and in the media that seem to think this ship a salvageable and we will have it tied up under arrest at Tauranga. That isn't going to happen. The MV Rena was conned into Astrolabe Reef at 17.5 knots ( 32 Kph ), MV Rena is 235 meter ship with a weight of 46,000 tonnes, 200 meters of her are on the reef her outer  hull has collapsed from 3 meters to less than a meter. Bulkheads are giving way through out the ship, water has entered the bow, MV Rena is moving on the reef that increases the stress she is under, expect more things to go wrong.

" New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster has been realised, Environment Minister Nick Smith says.

Smith told a press conference this afternoon the oil haemorrhaging from the ship's punctured hull today was ''fivefold'' the rate it had been in the days after its grounding on the Astrolabe Reef.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce told the public that Tauranga residents could expect to see oil washing up on beaches for months to come.

"It is my view that the tragic events that we are seeing unfolding were absolutely inevitable from the point when the Rena ran on to the reef in the early hours of Wednesday morning," Smith said.

He said the situation had become "New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster".

I can't argue with that but remember so far we haven't lost any lives lets keep it that way. Maritime NZ ( MNZ ) made the right call getting people off the ship.

I hate having a go at other bloggers but  No Right Turn is talking crap, something that is very unusual for him. I enjoy his blog  but disagree with his comments policy.

" At this stage its worth reminding people of our capability to respond to an oil spill. Below is exactly one third of our national oil recovery fleet:

Fills you with confidence that they'll be able to handle it, doesn't it?"


I try to keep away from issues I know fuck all about and Malcolm ? ( I think ), has gone looking for an angle and fucked up big time. He has forgotten about the private sector he has also forgotten about the Navy and the port companies assets around NZ that are available to the salvers and MNZ.

I was on the Taranui when it was built it was the first of these vessels commissioned it was just before she was handed over to the New Zealand Refining Company.

" The new mobile oil skimmer barge Taranui is the first of three vessels to be deployed around the New Zealand coast to collect oil or spread dispersant during a spill. She will be leased to the New Zealand Refining Company on a five-plus-five year agreement, and will be based at Marsden Point, near the Northland city of Whangarei, as part of their oil spill response plan. The skimmers have primarily been designed for tier three response - national incidents where the MSA is brought in to handle the incident in conjunction with the regional and local council. This does not preclude their use in tier two incidents. That will be governed by the cost of the cleanup, including the logistics of moving a barge to the cleanup site, and providing trained personnel to operate the barges."

This as I said was the first skimmer barge the subsequent two boats were payed for by the 5 + 5 year lease by NZRC. ie the tax payer owns but didn't pay for these boats. A very good public / private sector partnership.

" Taranui is the result of 18 months of planning, design and construction by the Maritime Safety Authority following the Jody F Millennium spill in Gisborne in 2002, which highlighted the need for such a vessel. Later that year, during the Tai Ping incident in Bluff, the authority borrowed one from its Australian counterparts. 'Simply put, Taranui will allow the MSA to go to oil spills, rather than wait for the spills to come to us,' says the MSA.


Taranui will stay within harbour limits when on her own, but she will be able to go further offshore, say 5km, if an assisting vessel is close by. She weighs 2.7 tonnes with outboards but no deck equipment, and three tonnes total, and is usually manned by three crew, a ticketed skipper and two hands, one on the pumps and one at the bow to direct the skimmer. 'The policy is to get out there quickly, and come back slowly,' says her skipper, Neil Roweth of the Maritime Safety Authority. Her five 150mm deep runners provide useful grip in turns, and spray is thrown well clear. She is surprisingly manoeuvrable, as the two outboards provide good separation."

Now this is why I am so pissed off with No Right Turn, these vessels were never designed to work 7 miles off shore but within harbour limits.

" Professional Skipper magazine compliments the MSA and the NZRC for their initiative and contribution to being prepared for this important risk of pollution."

 ( Disclosure: I work for Professional Skipper magazine but these are my opinions not the magazines official opinion )

Lets have a look at groundings and there have been  4 that have involved significant oil spills .

" The following list includes the more significant marine oil spills that occurred around New Zealand since 1990.

• 1998, Don Wong 529 - Stewart Island (with 400 tonnes of automotive gas oil spilled)
• 1999, Rotoma - Poor Knights Island (oily bilge discharge of approx 7 tonnes spilled)
• 2000, Sea Fresh - Chatham Islands (60 tonnes of diesel spilled)
• 2002, Jody F Millennium – Gisborne (25 tonnes of fuel oil spilled) ".

The Jodie F Millennium resulted in the  barges No Right Turn disparages.

A Labour MP accused I think Joyce of lying today but I can't find the story so will  hold off on who I think it was. Nobody is lying , the truth is nobody knows, that ship could break up tonight or next week or next month or even next year time and tide wait for no man