Bad weather halts oil pumping

Pumping of oil from the stricken cargo ship Rena was abandoned overnight due to rough seas and strong winds of up to 35 knots.

Three crew members worked until approximately 11.30pm on Monday, October 17 managing to pump 90 tonnes of oil from the ship onto the barge vessel Awanuia suspending operations.

Oil transfer operations from Rena onto the Awanuia have been suspended due to bad weather.

Maritime NZ says the poor weather with swells of up to four metres will impact on salvage and oil recovery operations today.

Nine salvage crew remain on board Rena, but may be taken off if conditions worsen.

MNZ Salvage Unit Head Andrew Berry says plans are in place to begin using a booster pump bought in yesterday, which will hopefully help speed up the pumping process. However, whether or not pumping can recommence today will depend on weather conditions and other safety factors.

'Every drop of oil that we can get off the Rena is one less drop that potentially can end up in the environment, but given the huge range of variables that can affect operations, it's going to be a long, slow process.

'The ship is stable and remains in the same condition as it was yesterday – with cracks down each side but is still together in one piece.”

Meanwhile, National On Scene Commander Ian Niblock says there are no fresh reports of oil on beaches overnight, but teams of trained responders and volunteers are ready for action when more oil comes ashore.

The state of beaches and other oil-affected areas would be re-assessed this morning, with the possibility of re-opening some beaches if it was safe to do so.

The Wildlife Centre reports 207 live birds are now in care, as well as three seals, while 1290 dead birds and four dead animals have been recovered.

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1 comment

14GK

Posted on 18-10-2011 10:50 | By 14GK

One thing that seems to have escaped some of our national media in its unrelenting focus on the "negative" is the great work the salvers are doing. We hear that conditions are extemely dangerous yet the salvers stay on board and continue to work - sometimes for periods way beyond most folks endurance. It would be nice to see increased media focus on more of the good work being done across the whole of the recovery effort. For myself I've had enough of Close Up and Campbell Live and their search for people to point the finger at. There's some really great work being done around the area - there's see some of the positives too please!


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