11 Sep 2014: "MV Rena operations are still under way, and they need to be able to work without other vessels getting in the way."
Bay of Plenty boaties are being reminded they aren't allowed near the Rena wreck after a spate of vessels breached the exclusion zone.
There have been 56 recorded breaches since the start of 2014 of the two nautical mile exclusion zone around the wreckage of the vessel, which ran aground on Astrolabe Reef near Tauranga in October 2011.
[April 2 2012 Rena: Interim Report -took a short cut to be on time]
An interim report on the Rena cargo ship grounding has revealed that the crew may have been taking a short cut which caused the incident.
The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission's report into the grounding of Rena on the Astrolabe Reef in October last year has stated that the crew were desperately trying to meet the deadline to reach port.
Several course changes were made in order to do this which resulted in the vessel trying to pass the reef at just 2km, as opposed to the recommended 4.8km.
After the grounding, the Rena leaked hundred of tonnes of fuel, in what has been called New Zealand’s worst maritime environmental disaster. New Zealand’s government has estimated the cost of the clean up at NZ$130m.
Both the captain and the navigating officer have pleaded guilty to mishandling the vessel and then doctoring documents after the crash – they’re due to be sentenced on 25 May.
The commission's final report is due out next year.
So far it has been difficult to ascertain what can be learnt from the Rena disaster and what, if any, changes need to be made to safety regulations to prevent a similar incident happening again.
[October 15, 2011]There were claims today that the Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef because someone on board deliberately changed its course.
One expert 3 News spoke to said the ship used only one navigational aid - a beacon around 20 kilometres away, and never checked its own charts because if it had it would have been obvious it was on a collision course.
Marine accident specialist John Riding says the Rena is not there because of bad luck, but because of bad decision making.
Mr Riding believes a massive error in navigation means the course of the boat was deliberately changed long before it hit the Astrolabe.
He says about an hour from the port of Tauranga the Rena’s radar picked up a signal from the port's entry beacon.
It then changed course, slowly turning towards the beacon. The new route set a collision course with the reef.
“It appears to me that if he'd looked at the chart it would have been obvious what would happen,” says Mr Riding. “We are genuinely talking about the ‘ABCs’ of navigation, these are the basics that have gone wrong.”
All ships must eventually line up with the entry beacon where a pilot boards the ship to help guide it safely into the port.
3 news understands the Rena was meant to meet its pilot at 3.30am that morning. It hit the reef at 2.15, still on schedule to meet that deadline.
Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Carins says if ships miss their rendezvous time they simply do not come in to port.
“We won't risk the safety on that, so if they miss the window, they miss the window, and depending on the size of the ship they would have to wait for a few hours.”
But waiting at sea with a fully laden ship is expensive. Even the government is questioning whether the Rena was racing to get into Tauranga.
Environment Minister Nick Smith says it appears from the charts that they were in a rush to get to port.
“[They] went full bore, cut the corner and hit the reef and there's a proper inquiry that needs to take place to confirm that course of events.”
Mr Riding says every ship is under pressure to arrive on time, otherwise it costs money.
“The master's job is to make sure you do it safely. Every master has that on his shoulders.”
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