The Port of Tauranga's pilot boat Arataki was the first shore based responder following the container ship Rena striking Astrolabe Reef on October 5.

Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns says initially there was optimism of a quick resolution to the Rena problem.

'Maritime New Zealand staff, the harbourmaster, and our staff attended the vessel at 4am before daylight on Wednesday 5,” says Mark.

'Initial hopes were to refloat the vessel at high tide by removing some cargo, which did not prove feasible, given how far onto the reef the vessel ended up, making it virtually impossible to get heavy-lift project cargo vessels close enough to remove some containers.”

The Astrolabe Reef is approximately 24 kilometres from Mount Maunganui.

The port's compulsory pilotage limit is bounded by an arc about 5.5km centred on North Rock on Mount Maunganui and including all the commercial area of Tauranga Harbour.

This limit is set by MNZ under Maritime Rule 90.

Ship operators are responsible for safely navigating their ships between pilot stations around the world.

'We do take risk management seriously as a company,” says Mark.

'Our risk profile is regularly reviewed by management and board.

'It will always be very difficult to demonstrate to the general public that adequate procedures are in place to handle low likelihood, high consequence risks such as this grounding.

'We do have contingency plans in place for such an event. Specifically, New Zealand's oil spill response capability is maintained through partnerships between Maritime New Zealand, regional councils, and industry.”

A three tier response system has been developed.

The Rena, with 1700 tonnes of fuel oil onboard, is a national level, tier three event.

'In various locations around the port, we hold 1360 lineal metres of containment boom and have trained staff ready to deal with tier one responses and to work with Bay of Plenty Regional Council in assisting with tier two responses,” says Mark.

'The containment boom we hold on site includes 200 metres of rapid deployment boom, 600 metres of fence boom, and 560 metres of land/sea boom.

'None of these booms are effective in open sea conditions and every bit would have been required in the harbour in the event of the vessel being floated off the reef and towed into port.”

The port is cooperating fully with MNZ and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission's investigation is underway.

'We have made all of our resources available to Maritime New Zealand for the emergency response,” says Mark.

These include seconding staff, work boats, tugs, office space, cargo shed space, and the exclusive use of number five berth and its adjacent quay to lay out their materials and transport to the reef, and an area alongside Shed 22 to bring ashore salvaged containers. 'The New Zealand Defence Force has been fantastic in working with us to keep the port open,” says Mark.

'We established a combined operation very quickly following the loss of containers overboard from the stricken vessel, utilising a mix of our joint resources including a towed side scanning sonar and magnetometer to identify subsurface containers.

'Daily helicopter reconnaissance of shipping channels out to Mayor Island allowed us to provide regular updates to our shipping line customers of any navigational hazards.

'We take our hats off to the brave salvors who are working in the most unimaginable and risky conditions getting the oil off the vessel and also to the 6700 volunteers in Tauranga who have banded together as a community to get most of our beaches back into reasonable shape,” says Mark.