CEO Mark Cairns answer reader's criticisms over Rena disaster.

Without addressing any of the technical issues involved, it looks like we have dodged the bullet by averting a major oil spill from the grounding of MV RENA on the Astrolabe Reef. Firstly, well done to all those who volunteered to help clean up our Western Bay beaches and secondly, well done to the salvage and wildlife refuge teams for a job well done in the end. Now turning to the real practical issues; Tauranga Port, claimed to be the largest port in New Zealand needs to have on standby a barge of the Awanuia type, capable of taking large amounts of oil off stricken vessels. It also needs a barge with a crane of the Sea-Tow 60 type, capable of off-loading containers at the rate of at least 5 an hour and lastly ‘A' buoy type lighted beacons should also have been located on the reef. In this case, the response to the grounding of MV Rena should have been immediate and rescue craft sent from Auckland on day 1. We had 5 days of good weather and action was needed while the ship was basically intact and in one piece. This would have made the rescue and clean up job a lot easier and assisted with taking off the fuel oil and containers from the Rena. Put the necessary protection measures in place right now so Tauranga can have an urgent response capability because the Bay of Plenty doesn't need to face this potential environmental disaster again. Next time Tauranga/ Mount Maunganui might not be so lucky.

R Paterson, Tauranga.

Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns responds:

In general, Port of Tauranga has a policy of not responding directly to letters to the editor but I have been incredibly frustrated following the Rena grounding, due to my inability to properly communicate the facts, in view of the two investigations by Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) that are currently under way.

Port of Tauranga does have a contingency plan in place for oil spill response. This is maintained through a formal partnership between MNZ, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Industry. It comprises three tiers:Tier 1 – Industry - ships, on shore / off shore transfer sites, including ports (oil spills on site)
Tier 2 – Regional Council (oil spills within the harbour or out to the territorial 12 mile limit)
Tier 3 – Maritime New Zealand (oil spills of a size, complexity or environmental impact exceeding the capacity of the Regional Council's response resources)
MNZ maintains a national response capability of sufficient size to counter an oil spill of 3,500 tonnes, which is deemed to be a 'one in a hundred year” event. Oil spill preparedness is funded by an industry levy (the Oil Pollution Levy), which is paid by those sectors whose activities raise the risk of a marine oil spill.
In various locations around the port, we hold some 1,360 lineal metres of containment boom and have trained staff ready to deal with Tier 1 responses and to work with the Regional Council in assisting with Tier 2 responses. 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 piece would have been required in the harbour in the event of Rena being floated off the reef and towed into the port.
There has been a lot of criticism that the emergency response was too slow, which we consider ill-informed and unfounded. I must also admit to being surprised at how many salvage experts we seem to have residing in Tauranga. Following are some of the facts of the grounding that I am able to make available at this time:
• The vessel struck the well-charted Astrolabe reef, some 24 Km from the Mount, at 2.15 am on 5 October.
• MNZ were contacted immediately following the grounding. I received a ‘phone call from our Customer Service Centre staff at 2.30 am.
• Before daybreak on 5 October (at 4 am), our staff, along with the Harbourmaster and MNZ staff, attended the vessel to assess the prospect of refloating and towing her off the reef. The incident was immediately categorised as a Tier 3 response..
• The very next day, the Director of MNZ issued a Section 248 Notice under the Maritime Transport Act, declaring the vessel a hazardous vessel and requiring the owners to appoint a reputable salvor. Svitzer were appointed later that day and are regarded as one of the best salvors in the world.
Having a barge in Tauranga similar to the Awanuia as your reader suggests would not have made a scrap of difference to the Rena salvage operation. Once the bunker barge Awanuia arrived from Auckland, she stood off the Rena for some time whilst the necessary pipework and pumping systems were installed in the vessel to enable the oil to be pumped to the Awanuia. Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is not a liquid like diesel or petrol. Ships' fuel storage and delivery systems are generally designed to work in one direction with this very high viscosity HFO – onto the vessel and through the fuel system into the engine.
This salvage is an extremely complex operation and we take our hats off to the Svitzer team who have worked in the most inhospitable and dangerous conditions and have now successfully reduced the risk profile that we face. To quote Tauranga City Mayor, Stuart Crosby, 'we have certainly dodged a Scud missile” in this regard.
We also thank the thousands of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to restore our beaches to a reasonable condition.
We are co-operating fully with the current investigations and will welcome any recommendations that prevent a recurrence of such an event.