Salvage crew ready for possible breakup of ship grounded off New Zealand

Salvage crew ready for possible breakup of ship grounded off New Zealand

Salvage teams have stopped pumping oil and sealed up possible leakage points on a cargo ship grounded on a New Zealand reef as bad weather threatens to break it up.

The teams are being taken off the Rena, which is grounded off the east of the North Island, as swells of at least 5 meters are forecast over the next two days, said Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) officials Monday.

MNZ salvage unit head Kenny Crawford said Monday the salvors had focused on sealing oil tanks and air vents on the Liberian- flagged vessel before the weather made conditions too dangerous for further work.

"This should help limit further release of oil in the worst- case scenario of the ship breaking up," said Crawford in a statement.

The teams had also stopped work a coffer dam to enable access to the submerged number 5 starboard tank, which held about 358 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.

The salvage teams had pumped more than 1,000 tonnes of heavy fuel, emptying four of Rena's five main heavy fuel tanks, he said.

"The salvors have made great progress during the good weather window in recent days, but the swell yesterday forced them to stop work. Operations remain suspended, with the forecast for a significantly rougher sea state in the next few days."

Crawford said the Rena was still in a precarious position, at the mercy of the weather and tides, and could lose more of its cargo containers overboard, but salvors hoped to attach tracking devices to the accessible dangerous goods containers and other containers most at risk of being lost.

MNZ national on-scene commander Mick Courtnell said in the statement that oil leakage from the vessel's damaged duct keel and other pockets was likely to continue or even worsen as conditions deteriorated.

"This may result in more oil coming ashore, but exactly where will depend on wind and tide conditions. We are however remaining vigilant and will be ready to respond if and when this happens," said Courtnell.

The Rena ran on to the Astrolabe Reef, about 12 nautical miles from the port of Tauranga, on Oct. 5 and cracks have since appeared in the ship's hull as it lists precariously to the starboard.

Oil from its tanks has been washing up on North Island beach and has killed an estimated 1,300 seabirds.

Two of the crew's Filipino officers have been charged in connection with the grounding.

Editor: Xiong Tong

English.news.cn   2011-10-31 13:37:15 FeedbackPrintRSS
WELLINGTON, Oct. 31 (Xinhua)