Two long awaited reports into the grounding of the cargo ship Rena off the coast of Tauranga in 2011 are due out today.

A scientific report of the environmental effects and recovery, and a report into Maritime New Zealand's response to the grounding will be released at a media briefing at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club later today.

The cargo ship Rena grounded on the Astrolabe Reef on October 5, 2011.

The containership Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef about 25km off the coast of Tauranga on October 5, 2011.

The ship leaked more than 350tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the environment and broke up, spilling containers and cargo into the ocean, washing up on beaches across the Bay of Plenty.

The Rena Recovery Plan's scientific monitoring programme has been assessing the environmental impacts of the grounding on the environment. This is part of a $2.4million government initiative to 'restore the Mauri of the affected environment to its pre-Rena state”.

MNZ will also release today the Independent Review of MNZ's response to the grounding, carried out by Simon Murdoch. Criticism of MNZ's handling of the event, and apparent lack of action in the days immediately after the grounding was part of the public discussion in the following months.

Rena's owner and insurer have announced their intention to apply for a resource consent to leave the remainder of the wreck on the reef.

The aft section of the hull is now lying in deeper water. Salvors intend removing the four storey accommodation block in the next several weeks, and want to leave the remainder of the wreck on the reef.

The monitoring programme findings are expected to play a part in the Environment Court action.

The Rena owner and insurer are expected to go to court this month to apply for consent to leave the wreck on the reef.

They also want to leave any remaining cargo left in the wreck, as it should present no danger to the environment and is impractical to retrieve, they say.

They also seek the Court's consent to remove material in the debris field that is too small to be picked up and is no danger to the environment.

A resource consent for 'discharge” will be sought for; Weathering of remaining wreck steel and paint, the breaking away of parts of the wreck, potential oils that may release over time, and cargo that releases itself from the wreck.

SunLive will have a full report of the findings after the media briefing.