Details of the application made by the owners and insurers of the Rena to leave the remaining wreck on the reef will be provided at a media briefing on Monday.

The resource consent application was lodged with Bay of Plenty Regional Council on Friday, May 30, and is seeking to leave the sunken aft section of the ship currently in up to 50m deep water on the Astrolabe Reef.

Watch the videos below.

Spokesperson for the ship's owners, Hugo Shanahan, confirmed the application was made after a sonar survey undertaken after March's Cyclone Lusi showed the position of the ship's section had changed.

The remaining accommodation block section now lies in water 24m to 53m deep, beyond depths typically accessed by recreational divers.

TMC Marine Consultants advisor Roger King this week said the aft section's rotation on the stern means it is significantly weakened and presents a 'greater risk and technical challenge for ongoing salvage operations”.

'The movement has helped to expose container and cargo debris that was previously difficult to access within holds four and five,” says Roger.

'As a consequence, Resolve Salvage and Fire is reconfiguring its large RMG 1000 barge to resume operations to further reduce the debris field, which covers the area of seabed between the bow and aft sections, and alongside the wreck to a depth of about 30 metres.”

It's understood debris and parts of the ship weighing up to 10 tonnes will be removed.

This week Mayor Stuart Crosby told SunLive that although he recognises the efforts put in by salvors his concern is for the region's coastal environment and world-wide reputation.

'The Rena is clearly breaking up and I do understand their move not to remove the balance of the accommodation block.

'I really do have the upmost respect for the work the salvors have done from the start – but my concern is for the future and what will happen to the remnants of the Rena and the cargo, and some of the more hazardous material in and around the ship.”

'We have been made aware for some time the resource consent will be applied for, I haven't yet seen it.”

The Mayor says he is concerned about the scope of the decision makers and how far they can go in the decision making process.

'There are a lot of unanswered questions and hopefully they will be answered in a short period of time, in regards to the resource consent, and I encourage people to participate in that process.

'We understand it may be forwarded it onto the Environment Court and I support that.

'I have always viewed that it should be removed, but the point is what are we going to remove now? I haven't yet formed a view from the new information.”

The Regional Council is expected to publicly notify the consent, and a website is set up to provide information to the public on this.

The ship hit the reef, about 25km off the coast of Tauranga, on October 5, 2011 as it made its way to the Port of Tauranga.

It subsequently broke up spilling more than 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, along with containers of contents through the waters of the Bay of Plenty coast.

Since its grounding opinions have been divided on whether the ship should be entirely removed.

In October 2012 SunLive undertook a street poll asking people's opinions on whether the wreck should be removed from the reef or allowed to stay.

It seems in the last two years opinions have changed.

Watch this week's poll below:

October 5, 2012, video below: