Here’s a great recap by gCaptain of the wreck of the container ship Rena that hit a reef off New Zealand and eventually broke apart in that country’s worst maritime disaster:
The MV Rena was traveling at a speed of 17 knots when it grounded on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of New Zealand on October 5, 2011, during a voyage from Napier to port of Tauranga. At the time, the ship was carrying over 1,300 containers and 1,733 tonnes of heavy fuel. What resulted became the country’s worst maritime disaster which took years to clean-up.
Investigators eventually found that it was the failure of the master and crew to follow proper voyage planning, navigation and watchkeeping practices, as well as the ship manager’s insufficient oversight of vessel’s safety management system, as the cause the shipwreck. About 200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil were spilled in the accident, as well as a substantial amount of cargo containers lost overboard.
Now 10 years since the incident began, here’s a look back at photographs of the stricken MV Rena during its first year on the reef:
Flyover shots of stranded cargo vessel Rena grounded on the Astrolabe Reef. The photo above was taken at 7:45 a.m. on October 5th, hours after the ship grounded. Photo: Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Here’s Rena from another angle as she looses containers into the heavy seas. Photo: Blair Harkness,
The tanker Awanuia pumps oil from the wreck on October 17th. The vessel Awanuia was eventually forced to cease operations due to heavy weather. Image credit: Maritime New Zealand.
During the early morning hours of January 8th, Rena’s hull broke in half as heavy seas, with swells up to 6 meters, battered the vessel. With 830 containers still on board at that time, it was estimated that some 200-300 were lost overboard when it broke in half. Image credit: Maritime New Zealand.
On January 10th, the stern of Rena slipped off the reef and began to submerge. Here it is above moments prior to sinking with more debris in the surrounding waters. Image: Maritime New Zealand.
The bridge, clearly visible underwater, pictured on January 19th. Image; Maritime New Zealand. Read more:
