Maritime NZ Puts Rena Salvage on Pause
Maritime New Zealand has approved a pause in work on salvaging the Rena while the wrecked cargo ship’s owners wait for their resource consent application to be heard.
The ship's owner Daina Shipping has been seeking permission to leave sections of the wreck and some debris on Astrolabe reef, where the container ship grounded in 2011.
Maritime New Zealand said the pause would take effect only once the wreck reached the state set out in the consent application, which was expected to be heard later this year.
"Maritime NZ accepts that it is not reasonable to require further salvage work to be carried out, beyond what is required to reach the wreck state set out in the application, until resolution of that process," said director Keith Manch.
The owner wants to leave the last sections of the bow on the reef, and the aft section, which sank when the ship broke apart in January 2012, in place along with other remaining debris.
Resolve Salvage and Fire has two-to-three weeks' worth of work left, depending on the weather.
The Rena’s owners lodged a resource consent application under the Resource Management Act to leave sections of the wreck and associated debris in place on Otaiti (Astrolabe) Reef and to provide for any future discharges of contaminants that may arise from leaving the wreck in place.