The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/48969
The Ports of Auckland bunker ship Awanuia attempts to get a connection so her crew can pump heavy fuel oil off the Rena In fact it was not too many hours later that the first salvage experts had touched down and only a day later when a 747 freighter landed at Auckland International Airport with hundreds of tonnes of salvage gear, including the salvor's own helicopter, with the prospect of a lot more gear to follow. Wreck removal operations require detailed and careful planning for environmental and commercial reasons, which is why Maritime NZ has been meticulous in its actions to date. The local pundits could be excused for not agreeing, as in the eyes of the public Maritime NZ appears to have been very slow to react. Some say there has been too much hui and not enough doey! Public frustrations have developed as the window of opportunity after the grounding quickly closed. There has been strong talk among local operators in the industry that Maritime NZ officials appeared to be out of their depth, with too much touchy-feely legal PC stuff, you can't do this or say that, with no-one being seen to be taking charge. From a public relations perspective some things might have been done better, including deploying booms. The problem is they must be used where they can be most effective, in our case the sheltered confines inside Tauranga Harbour and the entrance to the estuaries to protect sensitive areas. The question why these booms were not deployed around the ship when she first went up on the reef remains one of the strongest criticisms of both Maritime NZ and the Port of Tauranga. We understand the port has a ready-reaction boom defence system of some 600m designed to surround a ship in the port to contain any oil until it is collected and or dispersed. The day of the grounding and the next few days were perfectly calm, and one could argue the boom should have been deployed around the ship. We are advised this option was deemed to be neither practical nor of significant value as the booms are not designed to work in strong tidal flows or where there is a lift or breaking water. This might be true, remembering the top of the reef is about 50m off the starboard bow and was breaking. But just think of the PR opportunity lost. Hundreds of volunteers for beach patrols and clean-up operations swing into action Imagine if the boom had been deployed around the Rena on the first day. The public's immediate reaction would have been, "Our people are on to it." It would not have mattered whether the boom worked or not, this simple bit of public confidence building would have been huge and once it failed, it could have been recovered as a lesson learnt, but, in the public's eyes at least we were seen to try. Sometimes the best course of action may not be to tell the public, trust us, we know best. Rather, use every opportunity to take the public with you. This incident is going to have far- reaching repercussions on the people of the Bay of Plenty and they need to feel confident all is being done to assist. They want to assist, they just needed to know how. What do we know about the Rena? At 21 years she is getting a bit old for a cargo ship. She is on charter to MSC for US$15,000 a day, and going by the number of defects as the ship nears the end of her life, it is easy to understand why her owners were reluctant to spend any more money than they needed to. The Maritime Union has said it has information Maritime NZ was aware of a number of problems on the stranded ship, having found the deficiencies after it inspected her in Bluff in September. The reported deficiencies included problems with its charts, November/December 2011 Professional Skipper 33 PHOTO: BLAIR HARKNESS PHOT HOT HOTO: MAR M NEW EAL ND ARITIME N OTO MARIT ME NE ZEALANA AND