A second crane barge is slowly making its way to the Bay of Plenty as salvage teams prepare to hoist containers off the stricken ship Rena.
Salvors today moored the crane barge Sea Tow 60 (ST60) at the stern of the precariously leaning container ship, which has been grounded on the Astrolabe Reef off the Tauranga coast since last month.
Work to remove the 1349 containers on board comes after a weeks-long oil removal operation wrapped up yesterday, with most of the oil now off the ship and only smaller pockets remaining.
Maritime New Zealand salvage unit manager Arthur Jobard said testing of the ST60's cranes began today, which could take one or two days before container removal could begin.
"The salvors are taking this time to make sure that all the equipment and systems are ready and working properly before commencing operations.
"They also need good, calm weather to operate effectively, with safety being the top priority.''
When testing was complete, salvors would be lowered down in a cage to get the containers ready for removal.
But Mr Jobard warned the speed at which the salvage teams could work depended on many different factors.
"This includes weather and how complex it proves to be to access the containers, many of which are badly damaged and in very precarious positions.''
The operation's complexity was compounded by the need to design a container decoupling system, given the difficult lean of the ship and the position of the containers.
"Each set of containers will present its own unique challenges. This means it is impossible to predict exactly how long it will take to safely remove all of the containers on board - but realistically, it is likely to take several months of patient and careful work.''
A second, larger container barge was on its way from Singapore to assist the operation.
Mr Jobard said the Smit Borneo was making good speed and was expected to arrive by early December.
"Its cranes have greater reach and more accommodation room on board for the salvors, so we would hope to be able to speed up container removal operations.''
Meanwhile, the remaining pockets of oil on the ship would be extracted from those areas it was possible to access.
Mr Jobard said the Rena was still in an unstable position and could break up before the containers were removed, which salvors and container retrieval company Braemar Howells were prepared to deal with.
Maritime New Zealand national on-scene commander Mick Courtnell said an announcement would be made tomorrow on lifting beach access restrictions in the area.
"With the bulk of the oil removed from the Rena and no fresh oil coming ashore, responders were turning their attention to removing more `stubborn' oil from rocky areas,'' he said.
"While getting the bulk of the oil off the Rena is a significant milestone, our job isn't done yet. We are making sure that are ready to respond if there is any spill of the oil left on the ship in this next phase of the operation.''