Rough Weather on Tauranga Reef Halts 'Rena' Salvage

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) liases with US salvors Resolve, meanwhile Braemar continues clean up work.

With sea conditions remaining too rough for marine operations, Braemar Howells clean up teams have been hard at work tackling the fresh debris swept ashore on the Coromandel Peninsula in particular.

Braemar Operations Manager Neil Lloyd says it has been the most prolonged  weather event encountered since the project began. The stormy conditions have had a “significant impact” on the Coromandel and Matakana Island.

The rough seas have forced a halt to work on pre-rigging submerged containers lying on the seabed around the Rena wreck site. Mr Lloyd says that an ROV (remote operated vehicle) was deployed underwater yesterday but the work had to be abandoned due to poor visibility which was down to about 500mm, the worst encountered to date. It’s hoped that this work can resume early next week when the seas have settled, he says.

Although most of Braemar’s fleet has been port-bound, patrols have continued at the wreck site. The two-nautical mile exclusion zone remains in place, monitored 24-7. And it is somewhat reassuring that an observation flight over the wreck found no sign of any fresh releases, he says.