Rena update #227

The tender process for the next stage of salvage work - wreck removal - is continuing.

Braemar Howells update

Please note: Braemar sends updates on its operation out on Wednesdays as well – if you would like to be included on this distribution list, email Monique Balvert-O’Connor on Monique@writestuff.net.nz.

• Braemar Howells has confirmed that more than 50 tonnes of container wreckage has been successfully recovered over the past week from the seabed around the Rena wreck.
• A barge and crane have been used to collect the container scrap and debris from inside the exclusion zone, including items as large as a hatch cover.
• On-site Operations Manager Neil Lloyd says the Braemar/Unimar teams have worked hard to make the most of the calm weather, bringing in scrap by the barge-load.
• “This is the end point to a huge amount of painstaking preparation, involving divers, engineering work around the lifting, and the pre-rigging of scrap. We are making every effort to push on with this work into the weekend, before a forecast deterioration in the weather.”
• Mr Lloyd says round-the-clock patrols are continuing at the wreck site, and boat owners are reminded of the one kilometre radius exclusion zone, which is being strictly enforced. “There have been a couple of instances where craft have entered this safety zone and been challenged and ordered out.”
• Meanwhile, wreckage retrieval is continuing further away from Rena, at depths of up to 70 or 80 metres. A “working” ROV is in use – a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle with robot arms – is being used to pre-rig identified container scrap.
• Mr Lloyd says the Rena owners are pleased to see the quantities recovered over some highly productive days, in both marine and shoreline operations.
• On land: Matakana Island, the Coromandel, and areas further down the East Coast are all receiving attention from clean-up teams.
• Vessels - including a barge, and divers - have been sent down the East Coast to begin debris surveying and collection.
• Debris gathered over recent days is mainly plywood and refrigerated container foam. This is debris that has washed ashore during recent bad weather.
• A total of 955 containers have been recovered to date, leaving 66 in identified locations still to be recovered.

Oil spill response

• The oil spill response has been reduced from a Tier 3, or national level, to Tier 2, or regional level, response. Any queries about the oil spill response should now be directed to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.