Salvage crews were scrambling to off-load oil from a stranded container ship in New Zealand’s pristine Bay of Plenty, as Prime Minister John Key demanded to know why the vessel hit a reef in calm waters. With the official Metservice forecasting deteriorating conditions, including possible gale-force winds, from Monday afternoon, the race to remove heavy fuel oil from the 47,000-tonne vessel Rena on Sunday took on added urgency. Officials fear the stricken ship will break up and sink in the North Island bay and potentially cause New Zealand’s worst maritime pollution disaster in decades if the 1,700 tonnes of oil is still on board. The crippled vessel has already leeched an estimated 20…
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on October 12, 2011. Filed under News.
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Posted by
on October 12, 2011. Filed under