Another major oil spill NZ

We have a big oil spill on our Eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. www.nzherald.co.nz

Who should we blame? Ships company for employing cheap labour. How does it work? The experts say they know how to handle the problem.
Why did the experts allow this to happen in the first instance it would have worked out cheaper to avoid this spill. Accidents like this do not just happen they are created by bad management.

 

Oil

Such a shame-it's just incredible and inexcusable. Good Luck.

 

It is an absolute outrage!

The captain drove the boat "full steam ahead" on to the reef on his 44th birthday.... (Anyone care to bet a beer or two or three on why this happened?:idea

The worst is yet to come from this, I hope the weather turns in our favor.

The actions of one person are so costly to us all. Thanks mate!!!!!

 

Don't let them spray dispersing agents. The oil sinks out of sight and helps short-term public relations but it is still there killing the sea floor. Better they skim it off the surface or collect it off the beaches. It actually does less harm there. Gulf of Mexico still suffers from "dispersed" sunken oil.

 

Hers's some science resulting from quick search.: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/3/3445.pdf

 

Is the shipping lane that the accident occured in a VTS...vessel traffic services...mandatory ship reporting lane ? Was this lane and the ships in it being monitored by shore based controllers ?

 

Rena also provides a lot of floating containers, be aware . . . . . .



Cheers,
Angel

 

Quote from the Herald:
"The workers had put in "massive hours" beyond their collective agreement and had been intending to resolve a back-pay issue while the Rena was in Tauranga."

I think they sent a pretty clear message to their employers.....


We are ill prepared to deal with this ship breaking apart today or tomorrow. In my opinion, the cost of this mess will be in excess of 100 million NZD at the end of the day.
The Government is making noises about the tax payer to help with the bill.


Can anyone tell me why NZ only has a 14 million dollar cap on clean up liability for any shipping company?
(Makes me wonder if this was written into NZ law prior to the combustion engine!)

 

We have a $ 14 or maybe $12 million cap because we are a lot of suckers. At the moment we have more drones in one place which must be a record, for the World Rugby cup which is going to cost us plenty. Earthquake costs of many millions, and our local councils ramping up our rates,insurance payments increasing by 100`s dollars. Overseas debt`s getting into billions. IMF bail out here we come. Worst part is I did not create our National debt or local debt. Now another idiot increases our liabilities by millions.

 

Nature will clean the oil better than can Man. Fight against unwise expense. Cleaned seabirds, for instance, usually die after cleaning effort. It makes the cleaners feel better emotionally, but adds to the shock suffered by the birds. Post-cleaning survival percentages are very low.

 

Rena in NZ

Some video of this tragedy that is still unfolding:

Video shot shortly after the ship ran into the reef--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_UrTBYtSS9I

a little more on the story: http://nasailor.com/2011/10/16/a-di...-worst-maritime-disaster-continues-to-unfold/

 

In a word: No.

With respect to pointing the bone at the captain for this maritime disaster I think, actually, one cant really blame any person in particular. This particular captain was maybe the messenger of a long awaited message. Events like this are inevitable, unfortunately they WILL happen. Ships have been parking on reefs for a long time...
It is up to us, New Zealand, to be ready. As has been clear (and highlighted) for a long time NZ was not ready to deal with a major maritime disaster, unfortunately the public and thus the govt. had other more sexy priorities... I think it would be more constructive to view this as a near miss. Currently about 3-400 tonnes spilt. Worst case 1700 tonnes of HFO was onboard, 1300 tonnes now in secure tanks. I use the term loosely -they are not in the rupture zone.

Could be many times worse - think of the oil tankers charging up and down the coast. Last year a oil production ship lost power and control -came within a few miles of colliding with a platform off taranaki. that would likely have been many times more disastrous. Dont get me wrong, I am not belittling what happened, but attempting to keep it in perspective and also see a silver lining.

Even then I suspect NZ simply does not have the resources to maintain the capability of response that would be expected in, say, a central European port .
I think when all is said and done the result will be an increased capability for NZ's response.

Unfortunately it may also be a bit of a lucky (?!) coincidence that it happened right on Mt maunganui's beach - so a bunch of very wealthy (connected, powerful and articulate) folk have their lovely beach messed up for a bit. its in their face and they will get upset about it... Same event in, say, west coast south island I think the media would have already lost interest.

 

I dont know the economics needed to operate a traffic control system.

I do know from a lifetime at sea that accidents happen. Its easy to mis enter a waypoint, fall asleep, leave incorrect orders, have a mechanical problem.

Near coastal work will always present a danger and this danger must be minimized ag by both parties. New Zealand is a seafaring nation.

I resent the fact that posters referred to THIRD WORLD CREW.

 

I believe Port of Tauranga does have new radar etc (thus the equipment to run a vts over a larger area), maybe not the money/other resources to do same though. They put in the equipment following a collision in 2008.

With respect to 'third world crew' -
Unfortunately for the Filipines the crew were Filipino thus Filipino training gets questioned - I understand they are already languishing (along with NZ I should say) at the bottom of the white list. Maybe NZ is further up the white list than them, but I dont think by much. NZ is on the way down the ranks, Filipines is on the way up the ranks... NZ should not be throwing stones while living in glass house. Its not as if NZ doesnt have its share of NZ crewed boats grounding/ banging into each other/ or otherwise failing at navigation.

For me I reject the term 'third world' - I prefer the more accurate term 'majority world'.

 

A recipe for a shipwreck. A shortcut that did not pay off.
Would you try this trick?