New Zealand ship may break apart or sink
<p>The Rena, grounded Oct. 5 on the Astrolabe reef 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island, is now listing at 21 degrees and has a crack the width of the hull Monday. Salvage crews are rushing to recover as much fuel oil as they can before the arrival of bad weather predicted for later in the day.</p>
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Crews have again halted attempts to pump oil from a stricken ship off the New Zealand coast as the weather worsens.
Salvage crews managed to remove about 100 tons of oil from the vessel Rena over 29 hours before deciding late Monday that conditions were too dangerous to continue. Crews managed to remove about 11 tons in a previous attempt.
The Greek-owned ship, which became grounded on the Astrolabe reef near Tauranga on Oct. 5, was being battered by swells of up to 13 feet. Experts and officials are bracing for the cargo ship to fall apart or sink at any time.
An estimated 1,400 tons of oil remains on board, while about 350 tons has already leaked into the sea near the coast, leading officials to describe it as the country's worst maritime environmental disaster.
The salvage work resumed late Sunday after a halt of about a week due to severe weather.
New Zealand's transportation minister Steven Joyce said he didn't think there was much chance of getting off all the oil before the ship fell apart or sank.
"I think it's a case of getting everything off that you can," Joyce said.
The ship has major structural cracks and experts say it could break apart or slip from the reef at any time.
Joyce said only the bow of the ship is jammed onto the reef while the stern remains in the water, held there by its natural flotation.
"So it's variable and very dangerous," he said, adding that should salvage crews be evacuated from the ship, they would try to put caps on the tanks and close valves to minimize future oil spillage. Joyce said that if the vessel came apart, crews might be able to maneuver the pieces closer to shore to make subsequent oil recovery easier.
Crews first began pumping oil from the ship Oct. 9 but quickly abandoned that effort due to bad weather.
The latest attempt has proved more complicated because of the ship's deteriorating condition - a crack now extends the width of the ship - and steeper lean - the ship now has a list of 21 degrees.
Preparations took several days, with crews needing first to construct four wooden platforms on the side of the ship to provide a level base for pumping.
"This is a hugely challenging and risky operation even in full daylight," Bruce Anderson, who is heading the salvage operation, said in a news release. "These are incredibly brave and dedicated people."
Maritime New Zealand, the agency heading the response, estimates about 1,290 sea bird have died in the spill. Another 207 oiled birds and three New Zealand fur seals are being treated at a wildlife center.
The Rena is owned by Greek-based Costamare Inc. Both the captain and an officer on the ship have been charged under New Zealand maritime laws with operating a ship in a dangerous or risky manner. If found guilty, the men, whose names have been suppressed under New Zealand law, face up to a year in jail or a fine of ten thousand New Zealand dollars ($8,000).
The New Zealand weather agency MetService is forecasting strengthening Northerly winds for the Tauranga area late Monday.