Ship grounded off the coast of New Zealand splits in two
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The MV Rena is split into two pieces on Sunday, January 8, after overnight bad weather pounded the vessel. It ran aground in October on the Astrolabe Reef in Tauranga, New Zealand.
Workers remove shipping containers from the Rena on November 17, 2011.
Oil from the stricken vessel Rena coats Papamoa Beach on October 13.
Workers construct oil booms at Maketu Estuary in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty on October 13.
New Zealand soldiers start to clear the oil from Papamoa Beach on October 13 in Tauranga.
Local residents come to look at a washed-up container and litter on the beach on October 13.
One of the rescued penguins that had been coated with oil recuperates in a water tank at a wildlife center in Tauranga on October 11.
Volunteers collect oil clumps washed up on the Mount Maunganui shore on October 11 in Tauranga.
Warning signs are put up on Papamoa Beach on October 12 due to the health hazard posed by the oil spill.
The cargo vessel MV Rena sits stranded on the Astrolabe Reef on October 8 in Tauranga, New Zealand.
An oil slick is seen coming from the Rena on October 9.
The Northern Star prepares to take oil spill response equipment to the grounded vessel Rena on October 9.
In a worst-case scenario, Mount Manganui beach would be coated with oil. Oil clumps have already washed ashore there.
A surfer catches a wave with the main cargo route in the background near the port of Tauranga on October 8.
Volunteers wait for a debriefing next to an Oiled Wildlife Response Unit at Omanu Beach on October 8 in Tauranga.
A penguin found on a beach coated in oil gets washed at the Oiled Wildlife Response unit, set up in a makeshift camp in Tauranga on October 8. The belly of the penguin is normally white.
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(CNN) — A cargo ship that ran aground on a reef off the coast of New Zealand last year has split in two, spewing debris and triggering the possibility of a new oil spill, officials said Sunday.
Hundreds of tonnes of oil have already leaked from the ship, leading New Zealand’s environment minister, Nick Smith, to call the spill the country’s most significant maritime environmental disaster.
The sections of the ship, which are about 20 to 30 meters (65 to 98 feet) apart now, remain on the Astrolabe Reef.
The Rena, a Liberian-flagged vessel, struck the Astrolabe Reef, about 12 nautical miles off the city of Tauranga, on the North Island, in October.
“While reports at this stage indicate there has not been a significant release of oil, with the Rena in its current fragile state, a further release is likely. While it is unknown at this stage exactly how much oil may be released, teams have been mobilised and will be ready to respond to anything that may come ashore. The wildlife response had also been increased to help deal with any affected wildlife,” Maritime New Zealand officials said in a statement.
Bad weather, which caused the ship to break, is expected to continue for the next three to four days, the agency said.
At least 23 containers from the ship have been confirmed lost as a result of the split, while another seven are thought to be in the water, officials said. Debris surrounds the wreck.
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