Whangamata Surf beach, with Hauturu Island in the foreground and Mayor Island in the distance. Photo source: ©© kiwinz
Excerpts; TVNZ / One News
A total of 481 tonnes of oil has been pumped from the stricken ship Rena, as the salvage operation accelerates. Pumping is continuing on the port tank, which originally held 772 tonnes of oil.
But the most challenging task would be getting oil off the submerged starboard tank, which holds about 358 tonnes of oil, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said.
Maritime NZ estimated that up to 10 tonnes of fuel oil escaped the beleaguered ship on Saturday night and yesterday morning, and was being swept north by the tide.
As the beach clean-ups along the Bay of Plenty coast continued with several hundred people out in force yesterday, Wildlife recovery experts have been rushed to Mayor Island, a wildlife refuge to many native birds and has a five-square-kilometre marine reserve off its northern coast, about 35 kilometres north of Tauranga, which is in the path of the oil….
