The cargo ship MED is anchored outside the port of Tauranga today after encountering steering problems while en route to Noumea yesterday.
The ship departed Tauranga for Noumea at 5.30am Monday. The steering malfunctioned three hours later leaving the ship adrift north of Mayor Island.
The MED leaving Lyttelton this week. Photo: Wayne A Court. Marine Traffic.com
At daybreak this morning, the container ship was anchored between A Beacon and Karewa Island, where it had managed to get to under its own steam overnight.
Maritime NZ spokesperson Steve Rendle says the crew on board managed to make temporary repairs to get them in a position to anchor off Tauranga.
'I think arrangements are being made to get the spare part to repair the rudder. That's where it stands at the moment. It might be a case of getting something to New Zealand to get out to them.”
The managers of MV Med, Reederei Nord GMBH confirmed last night that the damaged part of the steering gear was successfully disconnected, and the 207m long containership was proceeding to the Port of Tauranga for repairs.
3 comments
Concerned
Posted on 29-04-2014 15:29 | By Watchdog
Once again we have a ship that needs assistance. Again we have relatively fine weather. Fortuitously there is a tug large enough to tow her either to Auckland or Tauranga. But what would we be doing in sever rough weather, with no such tug at our disposal. I basically charge the Port of Tauranga of being woefully unprepared for any disaster that could eventuate in this way. Imagine if the steering had malfunctioned in the entrance and the ship had gone aground, blocking the entrance. I bet the Port would go into action then!!! But what with??? WHen days slip by, into weeks without significant ability to attend to a problem, we see the end results with the Rena. IF we had a barge in harbour AND had a decent crane that could have been floated out to unload the Rena, I believe we could have been more effective.
Ship
Posted on 29-04-2014 17:15 | By Rik
If that ship had ran aground in the harbour entrance. our normal tugs would be good enough to get it back in the harbour. They need a big tug if it was to be towed long distance. This is nothing to do with the Port of Tauranga.
Not Concerned
Posted on 29-04-2014 18:06 | By savvy
How can you prepare for what happened in any practical way? The POT puts out hundreds upon hundreds of vessels every year without problems. The RENA had nothing to do with the POT when it hit the Astrolabe reef it was the actions of the crew, maritime NZ takes over in any emergency situations,first and foremost lives need to be saved before cargo and that's what happened (unfortunately being stuck on a reef and in a difficult situation didn't help)
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