The container ship Rena pictured where it struck a reef off
the coast of Tauranga at about 2:20am this morning. 5
October 2011 Photo by The New Zealand Herald/Alan Gibson.
Maritime New Zealand has ordered the owners of the cargo
ship grounded off Tauranga to start a salvage operation.
The owners of the Rena were today issued with two
notices under the Maritime Transport Act.
Maritime New Zealand director Catherine Taylor declared the
ship hazardous and instructed its owners to appoint a
reputable salvage team.
The owners have selected international salvage company
Svitzer to manage the operation, but Maritime New Zealand
still has the power to take control of the operation if it is
deemed necessary.
They must regularly update Maritime New Zealand on the
salvage operation, both before a plan is put into action and
once it is underway, and comply with all directions and
inspection requirements.
Maritime New Zealand's national on-scene commander Rob
Service said Svitzer was an internationally recognised and
respected company with extensive experience in this type of
operation.
Representatives from the company had been aboard the vessel
since early this morning.
Planning for the salvage would be a slow and steady process
and no plans had been made at this point, Maritime New
Zealand spokeswoman Sophie Hazelhurst said.
"The salvage company is now working through a process, that's
going to take some time. That's good by us - the last thing
we want is for them to move too quickly and rush this,'' she
told APNZ.
"The first step will be to assess the damage. That in itself
is going to take quite a while, we've got a lot of damage to
the vessel.
"They just have to take their time to really thoroughly
assess that and look at how it's going to affect the overall
structural integrity of the ship.''
Once the damage had been assessed, the salvage team would
look at response options and start to form a plan.
"But I can't put a timeframe on it at this point.''
Meanwhile, there were concerns over a hazardous substance
aboard the ship that could give off highly flammable hydrogen
gas if it came into contact with water.
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