Rena: Captain Mauro Balomanga pleads guilty

The captain and second officer of a cargo ship that ran aground on a New Zealand reef last year have pleaded guilty to mishandling the ship and trying to cover up their responsibility for the environmental disaster.
The unidentified suspects, both Philippine nationals, were in charge of the Liberian-flagged Rena when it tore into a reef in the North Island's pristine Bay of Plenty October 5, 2011.
The wreck dumped 400 tons of fuel oil and killed thousands of fish and seabirds. New Zealand authorities call it the country's worst maritime disaster.
Both defendants pleaded guilty February 29 of charges of operating the ship in a dangerous manner and altering ship documents. They also pleaded guilty to discharging dangerous substances.
They will be sentenced on May 25 when the court will publicly identify the suspects.

Earlier, Captain Mauro Balomanga and second officer of the wrecked cargo ship Rena were set to appear in the Tauranga District Court facing a number of charges relating to the disaster.
The 44-year-old captain and navigation officer, 37, both Filipinos, face charges they "wilfully attempted to pervert the course of justice" by altering the ship's document after the grounding.
The captain faces four charges and the second officer three charges.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.
The charges were laid under the Crimes Act
They have also been charged with offences under the Maritime Transport Act and Resource Management Act - where the heaviest penalties are two years' prison and a $300,000 fine.
They are due to appear in court on February 29.
The container ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Mt Maunganui, last October 5.Seventy-one containers were recovered this week, bringing the total to 625. Another 17 containers have been located but are yet to be recovered.

Rena: 115 containers still on board

The daily media conference for the Rena disaster finished Dec 1 and will become a weekly conference unless the situation changes. There are 1115 containers still on board
"We are now soliciting support from various sectors of the [Filipino] society, especially the maritime industry, to join us in lodging a nation-wide protest action to prevent Capt. Balomanga and his watch officer from being incarcerated. 12 months imprisonment should not be a penalty for a navigational error.' here

Schelde Trader: Maersk boxship aground off NZ

Schelde Trader, on charter to Maersk Line ran aground in the Bay of Plenty, just three weeks after the Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef, a second container ship. Preliminary assessments indicate that a mechanical failure caused the loss of power, which then resulted in a loss of steering. The container vessel was leaving the harbour after having come in to refuel on its way from Auckland to Noumea.
The harbour passage was not a difficult route to pilot. "I wouldn't have thought it was a difficult harbour to navigate. "

Schelde Trader Reider Shipping 9264752 SCHELDE TRADER PBKZ Container Ship 8015 2003

GROSS TONNAGE 6.704 tons
SUMMER DWT 8.015 tons
BUILD 2003
BUILDER COSCO ZHOUSHAN SHIPYARD ZHOUSHAN - CHINA
FLAG NETHERLANDS
CLASS SOCIETY GERMANISCHER LLOYD
MANAGER/OWNER REIDER SHIPPING WINSCHOTEN - NETHERLANDS

FORMER NAMES
until 2009 May 08 MEKONG CHAIYO
until 2005 Feb 27 SCHELDE TRADER

Rena: video oil, ship remains stable

There are currently swells peaking at 4m around the vessel.

While pumping has been suspended, salvage experts are continuing with other work on board the vessel, such as cleaning out the engine room, getting more equipment on board and creating more work space. The ship is stable and remains in the same condition as it was yesterday - with cracks down each side but is still together in one piece.

Rena: 20-minute window to change course

The ship would have travelled in a straight line for up to 20 minutes before it struck the Astrolabe Reef off the Bay of Plenty coast at about 2.20am on 5 October. and it is a mystery why evasive action wasn't taken.
Decoded transmissions sent by the ship show the vessel took a managed, deliberate turn without on-board navigational charts having been checked. Rena's navigators only used radar recognition of land, and possibly the port entrance beacon to find their way.

Reports that the Rena is breaking up are incorrect. Salvage experts advise that while the Rena is cracked port and starboard, it remains together in one piece and is in the same position as it has been for the past week.

MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Andrew Berry (who today replaces Bruce Anderson as part of a shift rotation) says oil pumping operations are progressing. A booster pump is now in place, which is hoped to begin operation soon.

"All going well."
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Rena: water not supporting bow, stern

Liberian-flagged Rena has been stuck for nine days on a reef 14 miles off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, spilling about 300 tons of heavy toxic fuel and some of its hundreds of containers into the sea."What's holding the vessel together at the moment is the fact she's lying on the reef and some internal structures, companionways, ducting and the like inside the vessel," Maritime NZ spokesman "The ship is supported over part of its bottom and the water is not providing the usual support to the bow and stern so the static forces will be tending to bend the ship. In addition the waves will be causing changing forces that will tend to grow cracks,"
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