The bunker barge Awanuia has arrived in Tauranga to assist in the oil pumping effort off the grounded container ship Rena.
The barge is designed for refuelling ships at sea and can hold 3000 tonnes of oil.
Rena wrecked on the Astrolabe Reef and leaking oil.
Maritime New Zealand national on scene commander Rob Service says the pumping operation is the best approach to preventing an oil spill disaster.
'The removal of fuel from the ship remains the top priority.”
Salvage advisor to MNZ Jon Walker said at a press conference on Saturday that the Awanuia may be able to remove 30-40 tonnes of fuel oil from Rena today.
There is about 1700 tonnes of oil aboard the ship which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef at about 2.20am on Wednesday.
It has leaked intermittently since then.
As well as the fuel oil, other substances are also being removed from Rena.
'Pollutants on board the vessel including paint, grease, hydraulic oils and lubricants are being hand carried off the vessel, onto a small support vessel.
'These are maintenance goods that are carried on most vessels. This is a labour-intensive but necessary contingency task.”
Rob Service says no further oil has been reported as seeping from the vessel overnight and fresh oil identified on Saturday afternoon had dispersed by last night.
The HMNZS Endeavour is expected to join the oil pumping operation on Monday, boosting the responders' capability.
A storm is due on Monday and this is expected to hamper the response and presents risk to the ship's stability, with the New Zealand MetService forecasting 30 knot northerly winds.
8 comments
4 days
Posted on 09-10-2011 11:12 | By ronillian
All too little and too slow. But if this is the very best we can expect (and all the authorities involved here say it IS the best)... there should be NO oil drilling off our east coast a la Petrobras. I do not for one minute accept the other reassurances from Nick SMith that risks can be managed. We're tired of spin. AVOID the risks in the first place: that's the best way to deal with this risk. No more spin please.
Dubious figure
Posted on 09-10-2011 11:42 | By tibs
Sea Fuels, website gives the Awanuia a fuel capacity of 119,000 litres. I heard Keith Ingram of the magazine Small Ship give this figure of holding 3000 tonnes on the radio on Friday. The ship is a 3000 Tonne ship. 119,000 litres of heavy fuel oil is 119 cubic metres. Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) has a density range of 950 kg/cubic metre to 1010 kg/cubic metre. This would give her a capacity to take on 125 tonnes of HFO, if they are able to complete an entire transfer. We are told there are 1700 tonnes of HFO on the Rena, hence the need for the HMNZS Endeavour to also take HFO from the Rena. Her capacity is not easily found, being a naval vessel, I suspect. I see everyone, as far down as Winston, saying take the oil off now. How would they do that? The Awanuia, being used as a bunkering vessel in Auckland had to go to Marsden Point to offload her then cargo, before sailing for the Bay of Plenty. I don't know whther there is storage in Tauranga to accept any HFO transferred from the Rena or does it too have to go back to Marsden Point? Ditto the Endeavour. Maybe some of the armchair admirals would like to ponder this. Declaration, I'm in no way associated with any of the parties involved with the Rena or the organisations involved in her salvage. Just an ordinary citizen with a yearning for knowledge. I don't think this salvage attempt is as easy as most submitters here think. The logistics are enormous and the bureaucrats are rife. Retrieving the fuel will be just the first step on a long path to salvage. To all the aviation experts say use helicopters to lift the containers off. Helicopters lift cargo vertically, for the main. The containers on a listing ship when lifted, if they are able to be released from their restraints will swing out like a pendulum and may place the helicopter at risk. For all those tut tutters who say they should have been prepared, where in the world is there any capacity for being prepared for any eventuality? The hardest thing to prepare for is human error, because as soon as you make something idiot proof, they'll just find a better idiot.
@ ronillian
Posted on 09-10-2011 13:40 | By SpeakUp
Totally agree. I heard that there is a bunch of Chinese down in Wellington at the mo, trying to secure exploitation rights of off-shore oil drilling. All very hush hush as usual. I lived along a coast where off-shore drilling happened. Even without any technical spill, there is always enough oil escaping to damage the environment. You could not walk along the beaches without getting tar stuck on your feet. In this way the accident is a harsh but necessary wake-up call and a little taste of what sort of devastation off-shore drilling would deliver.
check the facts
Posted on 09-10-2011 14:41 | By rigger
Tibs. If you read the spec sheet you would have seen that the fuel capacity is the fuel capcity for the Awanuia not her cargo capacity - according to the spec sheet at http://www.seafuels.co.nz/files/Awanuia%20Spec%20sheet.pdf you would see that the HFO (heavy fuel oil) capacity is 3260m3 or 3,260,000litres. So if she has empty HFO tanks she can tke the 1700tonnes of HFO off the Rena.
Idiots
Posted on 09-10-2011 16:36 | By Kin
Again we have more idiots who think they know it all. It's all too slow and the authorities are useless. 90% of the cretins who have commented so far would not have the first clue on where to even start. Morons.
Too heavy for Helicopters
Posted on 09-10-2011 17:00 | By sanp
Some of those containers weigh in at 31 Tonne. Biggest Helicopters I know of in NZ are topping out at about 1.4 Tonne lift ability. An empty 20" container is about 2.4 Tonne. From my limited understanding the biggest Heavy Lift Helicopters in the world can lift about 20 Tonne.
Kin answer this
Posted on 09-10-2011 18:46 | By Salty SeaDog
Hey Kin you critic, tell me then why the Endeavour shouldnt of being sent Wednesday, and dont say she was in drydock as the navy told me she was tied up at the wharf sitting idle
Thanks rigger
Posted on 09-10-2011 19:24 | By tibs
You are correct, rigger. What I don't understand then is why the authorities have said she'll take 40-100 tonnes today and then the Endeavour will take over. Any ideas on why only 40-100 tonnes? Unless they halt for the night and intend to take more tomorrow.. Also reported today that it'll take 40 hours pumping to clear the tanks. If that's using auxiliary pumps. it will be pumped at quite a rate.
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