MV Rena

2011

Astrolabe Reef, Bay of Plenty, clear chart Location: Astrolabe Reef, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand · Coordinates: 37.54°S 176.43°E · Casualties: 0 · Survivors: 26 · Depth: 25 m (broken) · Cause: grounding — Struck Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty at 02:14 on 5 October 2011 at 17 knots. The reef had been on every chart for a century. The officers on watch had been taking navigational shortcuts to make schedule. · Fate: broken in two · partially removed 2016 · Type: container ship · Tonnage: 37,209 tons · Crew: 26 · Flag: Liberia · Launched: 1990 Liberian-flagged container ship, bound for the Port of Tauranga with 1,368 containers on deck. Struck the charted Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty at 17 knots on a clear night on 5 October 2011. Broke in two over the following months; 350 tonnes of bunker fuel and 2,000 containers ended up on the Bay of Plenty's beaches. The worst maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand history. Master and second officer served jail time. The Vessel The MV Rena was a Liberian-flagged container ship of the Greek shipping company Daina Shipping (owned by the Costamare container shipping group), built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries yard at Ulsan, South Korea in 1990 and commissioned on 27 April 1990. She was 236 metres long, 47,230 deadweight tons, and powered by a Sulzer diesel engine producing approximately 29,000 horsepower. Her specific design was a mid-size container ship: capacity approximately 3,351 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units). Her specific operational role in 2011 was the Pacific and Australia-New Zealand container service. She had been operating on container routes between Australian and New Zealand ports for approximately 18 months preceding the 2011 incident; her specific operational pattern involved regular port calls at Tauranga, New Zealand. By October 2011, Rena was 21 years old. Her specific maintenance condition had been the subject of various concerns; the specific Costamare management had conducted regular inspections but had not substantially modernised the ship. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Mauro Balomaga, 44, a Filipino merchant marine officer. Her complement on 5 October 2011 was 25 crew, predominantly Filipino and Greek merchant marine personnel typical of the internationalised Costamare container-ship fleet. The Disaster The specific grounding damage to Rena was severe. Her hull was penetrated in multiple locations by the reef; her cargo-hold structural integrity was compromised; her fuel-oil tanks were progressively failing. Over the subsequent days and weeks, substantial quantities of heavy fuel oil were released from the ship into the ocean. The specific environmental impact was substantial. Approximately 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil was released into the waters surrounding Astrolabe Reef and spread to the Bay of Plenty coastline. The specific oil pollution affected approximately 60 kilometres of New Zealand coast; seabird populations (estimated 20,000 birds killed or affected) were substantially damaged; substantial damage was inflicted on coastal fisheries and tourism. Additionally, approximately 900 containers were lost into the ocean from the damaged ship. The specific container cargo included: consumer goods; commercial materials; and approximately 9 containers of hazardous materials (refrigerants, chemicals, and industrial products). The specific container losses produced substantial ongoing coastal pollution and navigation hazards. The specific salvage operation was one of the most complex and extended salvage operations in New Zealand maritime history. The specific Dutch salvage company Svitzer Salvage was contracted to manage the operation. The specific operation involved: (i) immediate deployment of oil spill response equipment; (ii) systematic removal of remaining fuel oil from