Renas Salvage Teams Face Nasty Conditions
Salvors working on the crippled Rena in New Zealand removing the ship’s cargo have been grappling with strong winds, and rotten food within the containers they are trying to remove. The teams have been fighting against the 40-knot gusts, and still managing to remove more than what was originally projected for the operation.
The teams removed 15 containers on Monday from the stern of the Rena, making the total of removed containers to 64, in addition to the 88 which had fallen into the ocean earlier in the vessel’s grounding. There are still 1,126 containers that need to be removed from the ship, some of which are refrigerated containers holding rotting food. The containers filled with decomposing food were processed at the Port of Tauranga, along with all other removed containers, by container recovery specialists, Braemar Howells.
Maritime New Zealand salvage unit manager, Arthur Jobard, has said that the teams have done well to remove so many containers amid the dangerous weather conditions. He also reported that a warm water washing trial aimed at removing oil from nearby rocks has also been very successful.
Following the good results of the container removal and warm water washing, salvage teams confirm they will continue this work over the next few days.
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