Tauranga NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell says a disaster of Rena-like proportions is looming at the Taharoa Ironsand operation off the North Island west coast.

The 38 year old buoy that is the focus of the ship loading operation, is operating with uncertified critical equipment for which the breaking strength, proof loading and Safe Working Load are not known, says Clayton.

The ironsand buoy. Image: NZ Steel.

'An audit describes part of the operation as high risk, but the minister and the government don't care,' says Clayton.

'The buoy just doesn't have the specifications to cope with the size of the vessels and the dramatic increase in occupancy rates.

'We are running the risk of a repeat of the Rena disaster off Tauranga just because the government does not want to take immediate action. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb.”

Associate Minister of Transport Craig Foss said in Parliament that the 11m diameter, 185 tonne buoy will be replaced by the end of the year.

'That's unacceptable and shows the government is not concerned about the danger,'' says Clayton.

Ironsand slurry is pumped at a rate of 1,375 tonnes per hour via the three kilometre undersea pipeline to the ship moored to the offshore buoy.

The seabed pipes are connected to the buoy by massive flexible hoses. The buoy is anchored in water 35m deep, and anchored by six 350m long studlink chains, each with a six tonne anchor of a type used in mooring offshore oil platforms.

When the system was built, the ironsand slurry ships were 140,000 tonnes, they are now 170,000 tonnes and are exporting four million tonnes of ironsand each year.