chocolate cake

Agree the scale of disaster was all too apparent when it first ran aground last wednesday. Ultimately all the oil and cargo could not have been got off the ship before the bad weather arrived, but the slow start have only intensified the effects, the break up looks inevitable now.

Yes, the oil needed heating up before removal could start, but it seems this process and particularly getting the ships into place ought to have started earlier.

Sadly it's an absolute disaster for the Tauranga/Mount Maunganui area and the effect on tourism and jobs, the ecological damage

simonsi

Our eldest works for an oil spill response company, her and a team of 5 specialists are on standby but haven't been activated by Maritime New Zealand yet. Given the likelyhood of this spill getting worse surely this can only be a matter of time.

I expect once the oil is cleared off the obvious/easy access/visible places by volunteers it is probably human nature that paid hands will be needed to finish the job so we are expecting her out in the not too distant.

Her company is funded by the oil companies, they have aircraft (for spraying and transport), pumps, boom etc, you name it. Nearest thing to the Thunderbirds I have seen.

Sorry mate but that is complete tosh. The cargo belongs to its owners. Most you can claim is salvage reward but "I walked up to it on the beach" won't get you a big proportion of its value.

If you happen to own a salvage tug you might offer Lloyds Open Form to the owners and/or insurers, they will counter-offer daily hire unless under pressure of further loss. LOF might get you 20% of the value of what you recover if say you pulled 5 containers out from certain loss in the teeth of the storm but it has to be awarded by a court, it isn't guaranteed. Maritime law is generally old and complex and nowhere near "finders keepers" as you imply.

Yes I remember the BMW motorbikes on the South Coast, the legal position was the same there. Unless property is deliberately abandoned at sea it remains the property of its owner, even when in distress such as the containers off the Rena.

simonsi

To get a barge with a big enough crane to lift those containers off safely (safely for the crew doing the work), would require very near flat-calm conditions, I don't believe such conditions have existed since the ship hit the reef.

Equally there aren't that many such crane barges in the world so they are typically quite some sailing time away, wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't one in NZ.

elasmo1

one thing I can assure you is that "things won't be alright" when these things happen...

I'm a marine biologist and scientists have little hard data on the long term effects of crude oil pollution (and the chemical dispersants used) on marine ecosystems...

but once the oil gets in to the food web, who knows how serious the effects will be. The deepwater horizon spill could have effects on the gulf of Mexico for decades to come.

It's just a shame that people don't invest more energy to preventative measures rather than recovery operations afterwards.

Justcol

does that go for the container full of beef burgers thats come ashore??
I reckon if you dust the sand off most of em will still be ok

liamrokocoko39

Does anyone have any idea of when things will be back to normal? I plan to move to Mt Maunganui sometime in the second half of next year and this has really pissed me off!!!

elasmo1

as I said in my previous post, it could take years... and define "normal"?

Tray

Shock...horror...sadness...anger I've friends who have just re-located to Papamoa from Christchurch after February. I know they were looking forward to sunny days on the beach with their 3 children...talk of drilling for oil in Golden Bay...when will they wake up

Justcol

Give it two or three months and you wont know anythings happened.
Lots of crap and panic around at the moment and lots of people
trying to make out its going to be worst than it is.
Its a bit of fuel oil that will all be cleaned up, you might miss a seasons
breading for the fish but not much more.

Gawd I'm sick of all this crap already, suddenly everyone's a pseudo envirnmentalist
when all they really want to do is go and nosey at the shit on the beach and poke the dead
birds with sticks. Once the kiddies can go back on the beach everyone will be happy again

So the entire nation has to leave its mineral resources untouched because a dopey sailor
hit a reef, or because it might spoil a view that no one gets to see anyway....what utter rubbish

Charismatic

We will, it's OK though because the company responsible are "deeply sorry", not deeply enough however to offer to pay for cleaning up their own mess .

Pity the inadequacies of our environmental law and preparations had to be highlighted six weeks before an election. Especially considering what is happening regarding costal oil drilling.

Charismatic

I disagree, I think New Zealanders are becoming more environmentalistical...especially in the last few years.

This fiasco with water pollution and the offshore drilling has made people think more about if the clean green pure thingy is important to New Zealand.

Tray

So the entire nation has to leave its mineral resources untouched because a dopey sailor hit a reef, or because it might spoil a view that no one gets to see anyway...what utter rubbish[/

No, because they don't have any contingency plans in place.... & lots of people have lost there playground for the summer not to mention some their livelihoods
...what utter rubbish[/

Debbie2NZ

The people of the villages around the part of the UK coast where the cargo washed up were affronted to be thought of as thieves. Yes there is t.v. footage of things being taken, however, I can understand how those that were not responsible were indignant.

Charismatic

I read there are differences in law in the UK and New Zealand regarding stuff washed up on beaches?

Bo-Jangles

Expat - My life's in a Rena Container

How awful!