Maritime NZ Public Update and Advisory - Rena Disaster - 15 October

by Maritime NZ on 15 Oct 2011
Maritime NZ, on Saturday 15 October, issued a media release/public notice in regard to the Rena Disaster updating on the situation and containing public information relating to the environmental disaster.

1900hrs Report
Rena Update (#21)

MNZ Salvage Unit head Bruce Anderson today warned that the process of removing oil off the stricken container vessel Rena wouldn’t be a quick or easy process.

'We have had great weather for the past two days and this has allowed the salvage crews to do a huge amount of preparation and make really good progress. It is anticipated that the pumps will be lowered into the tanks tomorrow.

'All going well, salvors should be able to start pumping tomorrow and are focusing on making sure it all works before any pumping begins.'

However he warned that it was not a simple job. 'It has been described by a salvage expert as one of the most difficult groundings he has dealt with.'

'We should not underestimate how complex and dangerous this operation is.

'It appears the vessel is not as stable as we thought. Divers have indicated the stern is in a precarious situation as a portion of the vessel is still floating in deeper water, while the front of the vessel is firmly grounded on the reef.'

Mr Anderson said the work had to be done in a methodical way and safety constraints prevented operations continuing throughout the night.

National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn said there has been a massive effort on the beaches in the last 24 hours with over 2,000 people involved in clean-up, including New Zealand Defence Force personnel, national responders, trained volunteers and iwi.

Joe Harawira, iwi liaison said iwi were feeling more comfortable with the response. 'Following on from the hui that have been held over the past few days, iwi are feeling empowered with knowledge and can think a little bit wider. They appreciate the inclusion and being able to give a cultural overview.'

Iwi in Whakatane and further south are being consulted on clean-up plans in case the oil travels further south with the westerly winds.

Iwi are also assisting with advising on booming in and around the estuaries to protect sensitive areas.
If the weather turns, oil from the original breaches may still leak out.

Clean up

Earlier reports of oil on Whale Island were not confirmed by aerial surveillance undertaken today.
• Members of the public who want to help are urged to go through the official volunteer programme.
• There are situations where attempting to clean the beach without specialist knowledge can cause more harm than good. For example, the dunes along the coastal beaches in the Bay of Plenty have a wide variety of vegetation that is critical to the whole ecosystem.
• Dune systems can be seriously damaged if people walk on them or handle them roughly.
• Any cleaning of dunes along the coast will be done by trained responders using specific shoreline clean-up techniques that will cause the least environmental impact to these important plants.
• There are now 4,700 registered volunteers.
• More than 500 volunteers assisted today with beach clean ups at Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, Maketu, and Pukehina.
• There have been 618 tonnes of oiled sandy waste recovered.
• There are three clean-up sessions planned for tomorrow, two at Papamoa and one at Maketu.
• There are also training sessions planned tomorrow at 10am at Torere Marae, and Waitotahi Surf Club and at 12 midday at Te Kaha Main Marae and Whangaparaoa Marae, so that the community can be ready to respond should the oil reach the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Over 100 people from Ohope and Matata have already been trained.
• Volunteer coordinators at the incident command centre are rostering volunteers, so their assistance can be used effectively.

Salvage

There have been seven salvors working onboard Rena today.
It was expected that pumps would be lowered into the tanks today, however this is dependent on many factors such as weather, stability of the vessel, and the equipment.
As there are potentially noxious and hazardous gases in the tanks, environmental chemists were lowered on to Rena to make assessments.
The hole in the starboard side of Rena is about 60cm across, with quite jagged edges.
The tanker Awanuia has been again confirming drills today in anticipation of receiving oil from Rena.
The vessel is in a precarious position on the reef and not as stable as thought. Divers surveying the starboard side today have confirmed this.

Wildlife

• DOC vessel Matariki has been out patrolling coast today and has inspected some of the smaller islands.
• Motunau (Plate Island). 11 seals seen – half had some oil on them and were deemed to not require intervention. Local staff expected to see more seals, but did not land on the island to check all of area.
• Motuhaku (Schooner Island) two seals seen – no oil.
• 1 large mob of birds working sighted south of Motunau, including 500 grey faced petrel – no oil seen on them.
• Penguins have been sighted behaving normally within their regular habitat.
• Lots of red-billed/black-backed gulls have been seen.
• Team on Matariki thought birds were preening themselves more.
• There are now 34 Dotterels in the wildlife facility.
• There will be night operations tonight to recover little blue penguins.
• There are 140 live birds currently being treated.

Operations

A new Whakatane support centre has been set up at the Whakatane offices of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Note: some of these figures are estimates, and are subject to change.


1100 hrs Corrections

Please note two corrections to this morning's press release:

The press release this morning said the oil needed to be heated before it could be taken off the vessel – please note this is incorrect. The fuel will not be heated, and an Archimedes screw pump will be inserted into the tank to extract the thick oil.

The press release also contained incorrect information about boat ramps. The correct information is below. Apologies for any confusion we have caused.

The following boat ramps are closed:
Sulphur Point
Pilot Bay

The press release said there was a decontamination site at Sulphur Point - this is incorrect. A decontamination site for private vessels will be established later today - location details will be advised when they are confirmed.

1000hrs: Eastern Bay mayors urge community to work together

Winds have pushed oil from the stricken ship MV Rena extending the area of the oil spill response out to the east. It is expected that oil will arrive on Eastern Bay of Plenty beaches as a result.

Whakatane District Council’s Mayor Tony Bonne and Opotiki District Council’s Mayor John Forbes are urging the community work together if and when oil arrives on Eastern Bay of Plenty beaches.

Mayor John Forbes said he was confident the community would rally to support any clean-up effort needed.

'Our coastal waters are extremely important to the Eastern Bay and we place great value on their cultural, recreational and commercial qualities.

'We have a community that is passionate about its natural environment and I know that passion can be directed to help clean up our beaches.

'It’s also important that people keep vehicles off beaches as that would make oil recovery a lot harder ,' Mayor Forbes said.

Mayor Tony Bonne said it was important that the community takes the lead from Maritime NZ on the beach clean-up.
'I encourage people to work through the appropriate channels and not to handle any oil without correct training and the right protective gear supplied by Maritime NZ.

'We want to assist clean-up efforts rather than hamper them, so it’s key that people keen to help clean up our beaches register for the volunteer effort online or through the dedicated toll free number 0800 OIL SPILL,' Mayor Bonne said.
Maritime NZ is now coordinating a team of more than 1000 people involved in operations on land, sea and air and covering areas like field operations, planning, logistics, wildlife recovery and community and iwi liaison.

A dedicated iwi support line has also been set up with the toll free number 0800 AWHI ME (294 463).

More than 4200 people have registered through the new website set up yesterday www.boprc.govt.nz/oilspillvolunteers. This equates to about 200 people registering per hour.

Volunteer coordinators at the Tauranga-based incident command centre are working through a plan to roster these volunteers so their assistance can be used effectively.

Today there are two supervisor training sessions planned in Ohope and Matata today.


DATE: 15 October 2011 TIME: 7am
Rena Update (#19)

An army of volunteers will join the oil spill response team today to continue cleaning oil washed up on beaches following the grounding of the cargo vessel Rena on Astrolabe Reef last week.

MNZ National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn said the goal for the day was to continue the momentum that has been built up over the last days.

'We have made really good progress, we are beginning to achieve our objectives and we need to keep it up.'

Rena has remained stable overnight and the salvage team’s assessment is that the vessel’s stern is currently settled on the reef.

There are no reports of fresh oil leaking overnight, but an observation flight will go up at first light to assess this.

The salvage teams have now attached four platforms to act as a flat surface to undertake fuel recovery from. This morning they will begin lifting heavy fuel recovery machinery on to the platforms.

Mr Quinn said this would be a long challenging process.

'The teams are working in very difficult and potentially hazardous conditions. The first step is to get all the gear in place and prepare for discharging the oil to the tanker Awanuia.'

The oil in the holds is the consistency of marmite so would need heating before fuel pumping could begin.

Mr Quinn said beach access would continue to be restricted to help contain the spread of the oil. Four boat ramps had been closed until further notice, comprising Sulphur Point, Pilot Bay, Whareroa and Fergusson Park.

'There has been some oiling of small private vessels,' Mr Quinn said.

'A boat cleaning site, or decontamination site, has been established at Sulphur Point to assist owners to clean oil off boats. The public is urged to remain clear of oily areas on the beach and in the sea.'

Clean-up operations

· A total of 376 tonnes of waste has now been collected by two companies working through a consented waste management plan.
· An observation flight is going out at first light today to assess the spread and trajectory of the oil.
· Potentially toxic waste from the containers is also being disposed of through the consented waste management process.
· A preliminary assessment of the coastline from Opotiki to East Cape has been undertaken to plan for projected oil reaching beaches there. Volunteer training and equipment deployment in the eastern region is also taking place.
· Beach access is restricted from Mt Maunganui to Maketu, including Maketu Estuary. This restriction will remain in place all weekend and be reassessed on Monday.
· Tauranga City Council has closed the following boat ramps to contain the spread of oil:
· Sulphur Point
· Pilot Bay
· Whareroa
· Fergusson Park.
· A boat cleaning site, or decontamination site, has been set up at the Sulphur Point boat ramp.

Salvage

· The vessel has remained stable overnight and salvage work has resumed this morning.
· The salvage team has attached four platforms to the port side of the vessel. The platforms will provide a flat surface for fuel pumping operations from the port tanks.
· The oil is now cold, and dense and like marmite in consistency. The salvage crews have revised their plans to remove the oil as the vessel no longer has power.
· It is believed there are still 1,346 tonnes of oil on board the vessel – 770 tonnes in the port 5 tank, 356 tonnes in the starboard 5 tank and 220 tonnes in the settling tanks. The vessel had 1,673 tonnes to begin with.

Containers

· The salvage company, Svitzer is responsible for collecting the containers in the water.
· Members of the public who find containers on the beach should call 0800 OIL SPILL, unless the containers are tagged to show that they have already been identified.
· It is important not to touch the containers or consume any of the goods that have come free from the containers. These might be contaminated and they still belong to the owners.

Volunteers

· More than 4200 people have registered to volunteer, many through the website www.boprc.govt.nz/oilspillvolunteers. People can also register to volunteer at the Omanu and Mount Maunganui surf clubs.
· The training and equipping of these volunteers is going well and there will be around 1,000 volunteers on the ground today, working from seven locations.
· Today there are two supervisor training sessions planned in Ohope (Ohope Surf Club at 9am) and Matata (11am at Rangitihi Marae)
· There are five clean-up sessions planned for today:
· Mount Maunganui (12pm convening at Pilot Bay Boat Ramp)
· Papamoa (12pm convening at Papamoa Surf Club)
· Papamoa East (12pm convening at Taylor Road end of Taylor Reserve)
· Maketu (12pm at Whakaue Marae)
· Pukehina (12pm at the Pukehina Surf Club).

Wildlife

· There are a total of 110 oiled birds at the wildlife facility being cared for.
· There are now 25 rare dotterels in captivity at the centre – they have been caught to protect them from the oil. There are only 100 dotterels known to be in the Bay of Plenty region – the wildlife team is aiming to capture at least 60 of these, to ensure the population is protected.
· There are only about 1,500 dotterels in existence. A special aviary is being built at the wildlife facility to cater to the needs of these rare birds.
· The total number of dead birds has now reached 1,000.
· Volunteers who want to assist the wildlife response should contact the wildlife team on 0800 333 771.