NZ Safety Authority's Response to 'Rena' Grounding Probe

The NZ Government will review Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) response to the container ship 'Rena' grounding off the coast of Tauranga last autumn.

The review will examine the MNZ response to the Rena incident and establish the factors that contributed to, or limited, its effectiveness.

It will involve discussions with MNZ staff, and central and local government stakeholders. Although the review will not involve public submissions, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Murdoch will discuss the Rena response with all relevant central and government bodies, and with other key agencies that supported the MNZ response.

Mr. Murdoch added: "“As an organisation, business units within MNZ have done a lot of thinking about the response to the Rena grounding. Now it is timely to get an independent view. There will be things that have been done very well, but inevitably there will be areas where things could have been done better and we can take lessons away from this incident.”

Ministry of Transport Chief Executive Martin Matthews said an independent review was an opportunity for the transport sector to learn from the Rena experience in order to prepare for similar events. “If we can identify ways of doing things better, whether this means changing or retaining parts of the current response systems, this is good for the transport sector as a whole.”

It is expected the independent review will be completed in the first quarter of 2013. The review report will be made public.