Salvors led by Danish company Svitzer continue to pump oil from the grounded containership Rena, while on shore the incident command team is planning for any impact on the shoreline from the oil that has been leaking from the ship since it struck the Astrolabe Reef, near New Zealand's Tauranga Harbor on October 5th.
Nearly half of the oil on board the grounded Rena has been pumped off the ship, leaving approximately 700 tons in the ship, held in five different tanks.
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) Salvage Unit Manager Bruce Anderson said two booster pumps installed on Sunday afternoon had sped up the pumping rate from the port tank, and salvage teams were continuing to work on ways to extract oil from the submerged starboard tank and two settling tanks in the engine room.
The salvors have loaded more equipment on the ship including a lighting system.
“This is important, because they have been working in dark, oily corridors, which is clearly risky and challenging,” Mr Anderson said.
“The lighting will make the working environment safer for the teams on board. They have also loaded heavy duty compressors to aid the pumping system.”
National On-Scene Commander Rob Service said planning teams were continuing to track the movement of between 5 and 10 metric tons that leaked from the ship overnight Saturday. He noted that while it is a relatively small amount of oil, it is the most significant amount released since the vessel shifted and spilled around 300 metric tons October 11th.
