Grounded cargo ship breaks apart off New Zeland coast ..

[tony357 386]

http://abcnews.go.co...59#.Twmdmm9SQSs

 

 

A cargo ship grounded off the New Zealand coast since October has split in two, spilling sea containers and debris and sparking fears of a fresh oil spill, maritime officials said Sunday.

The wreck of the Greek-owned Rena was described as New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster even before the rear section of the ship, lashed by pounding seas, broke away overnight. The ship previously spilled heavy fuel oil that fouled pristine North Island beaches and killed up to 20,000 seabirds, and despite salvage efforts nearly 400 tons of oil remain onboard.

Maritime officials said the front section of the wreck remains stuck in its original position, but the stern section slipped at least 100 feet (30 meters) away from the bow and is "moving significantly," pounded by 19-foot (6-meter) swells.

The storm that split the vessel will continue for another three to four days, Maritime New Zealand spokesman Ross Henderson said.

Officials said up to 300 of the roughly 880 containers that had been on board were lost when the ship broke apart. Of those, about 30 percent had been fitted with monitoring devices and some 30 containers had already been located.

Oil has been seen leaking from the broken ship. Alex van Wijngaarden, on-scene commander for the national response team, said oil from the vessel could come ashore around midnight Sunday.

"While reports at this stage indicate there has not been a significant release of oil, with the Rena in its current fragile state, a further release is likely," he said. "While it is unknown at this stage exactly how much oil may be released, teams have been mobilized and will be ready to respond to anything that may come ashore."

 

 

 

AP

 

In this Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 photo provided... View Full Caption

Environment Minister Nick Smith told reporters that the "risks for the environment are a fraction of what they were in October," though the roughly 385 tons of oil still aboard the ship is about the same amount that leaked from the vessel soon after it ran aground. Salvage crews previously removed 1,100 tons of oil from the ship.

Most of the oil is in tanks in the stern section, which could end up sinking. Some of that oil could end up dissipating in the ocean rather than washing up on beaches.

The containers, meanwhile, spilled goods including timber, wool, bales of recycled plastic and bags of milk powder. The debris could begin washing ashore later Sunday.

Some containers have been sighted floating up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of the stricken ship, Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said.

"They have been caught in a strong coastal current" fueled by the storm, he said.

The Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbor on North Island on Oct. 5.

Salvage crews have plucked 389 of the ship's 1,370 loaded cargo containers from its decks since it ran aground, while some 98 have been washed over board in the past three months.

One eyewitness, Warwick Roberts, said the rear section was sliding along the reef.

The "stern has reared up and center section is not visible. Large breaking waves observed on bow," he told the New Zealand Herald website.

A two-mile (three-kilometer) no-go zone is in force around the wreck.

Investigations by The Associated Press last month revealed that Australian authorities impounded the vessel, but released it the next day after Liberian maritime authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe to sail and the problems could be fixed later. The Rena, like many ships, is registered in Liberia.

Some 10 weeks later, the Rena ran full-steam into a well-marked reef off the coast of New Zealand. It's not clear whether the previously identified problems played any role.

The captain and Rena's navigating officer face criminal charges of operating a ship in a dangerous or risky manner, polluting the environment and altering the ship's documents after the crash.

[RobertJames 14]

Maybe

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[greatgunstatenj 32]

Maybe

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Hilarious. Those guys have done a few funny ones.

[MedicYeti 96]

DARN IT!!!! My entire firearms collection was on that ship.

:-(

[tony357 386]

DARN IT!!!! My entire firearms collection was on that ship.

:-(

 

looks like your going to need scuba lessons..

[GRIZ 3,369]

I'm not concerned about the long term environmental impact . Look at what happened in the Gulf recently. According to the tree huggers it was supposed to take years before the area recovered. Yes, it was a mess for a little time but the ocean knows how to fix itself. We lost over 1500 merchant vessels in WWII and when you combine this with warships and ships from other countries I would guess well over 10,000 ships lost from 1939-1945. All of them carried oil as fuel or cargo. How much cleanup was done? Zero.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I'm not concerned about the long term environmental impact . Look at what happened in the Gulf recently. According to the tree huggers it was supposed to take years before the area recovered. Yes, it was a mess for a little time but the ocean knows how to fix itself. We lost over 1500 merchant vessels in WWII and when you combine this with warships and ships from other countries I would guess well over 10,000 ships lost from 1939-1945. All of them carried oil as fuel or cargo. How much cleanup was done? Zero.

Who said the gulf has recovered? You need to be very careful about what you read in regards to the clean up effort in the gulf. One article claims that the rating level is almost back up to pre-spill levels. While other articles say the gulf floor is a mess. In terms of, "on the surface" the gulf seems to be improving significantly, however, many scientist doing research on the gulf floor have not been impressed in terms of improvement. It will in fact take years for the area to recover, if some areas recover at all. These claims that the gulf is back to normal is complete crap, while these findings were being published last april tons of dolphins were still washing up along the shoreline dead. It is with out a doubt the dumbest thing to think that ecosystem which took such a heavy hit, miraculously are back to normal one year later. Many species populations took a sever hit, and they are no where near what they used to be. Once i see some one publish findings that population levels are back to normal i will take the argument the gulf is back to normal... But some government hired scientist, which claim its back to normal just by looking at the surface ecosystems is a far cry from anything legit. Just this past decemeber there still putting together multi-billion dollar recovery plans. Why spend billions on something that is already back to normal?

 

The gulf will recover, but it will take much longer then a few years for all the ecosystmes to get back to pre-spill levels.

 

And none of this takes into consideration the economy which still hasnt recovered in the gulf.

[GRIZ 3,369]

Who said the gulf has recovered? You need to be very careful about what you read in regards to the clean up effort in the gulf. One article claims that the rating level is almost back up to pre-spill levels. While other articles say the gulf floor is a mess. In terms of, "on the surface" the gulf seems to be improving significantly, however, many scientist doing research on the gulf floor have not been impressed in terms of improvement. It will in fact take years for the area to recover, if some areas recover at all. These claims that the gulf is back to normal is complete crap, while these findings were being published last april tons of dolphins were still washing up along the shoreline dead. It is with out a doubt the dumbest thing to think that ecosystem which took such a heavy hit, miraculously are back to normal one year later. Many species populations took a sever hit, and they are no where near what they used to be. Once i see some one publish findings that population levels are back to normal i will take the argument the gulf is back to normal... But some government hired scientist, which claim its back to normal just by looking at the surface ecosystems is a far cry from anything legit. Just this past decemeber there still putting together multi-billion dollar recovery plans. Why spend billions on something that is already back to normal?

 

The gulf will recover, but it will take much longer then a few years for all the ecosystmes to get back to pre-spill levels.

 

And none of this takes into consideration the economy which still hasnt recovered in the gulf.

 

 

I never said everything was back to normal in the Gulf. It is recovering faster than all the treehuggers said it would.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I never said everything was back to normal in the Gulf. It is recovering faster than all the treehuggers said it would.

Which is mostly attributed to the billions spent to clean it up. I'm not trying to pick apart your post and find secret meanings behind what your saying, but it was pretty evident to me you were claiming it was back to normal. "According to the tree huggers it was supposed to take years before the area recovered. Yes, it was a mess for a little time but the ocean knows how to fix itself". It's still recovering, we're still spending billions to clean up and assess the area, so who is to say how long it will really take.

 

Nothing on this earth is adapted to deal with an oil spill of such magnitude, to say the ocean knows how to fix itself is a pretty unlogical statement. The ocean will deal with whatever you throw at, but to assume it will naturally over time go back to how it was is a false statement. The ocean will adapt and will recover, but to say the life in which inhabits the ocean will do the same is not true, costal ecosystems can be impacted forever, the loss of important species, and the degradation of wetlands and habitats that are already on the decline.

 

Hell just throwing an invasive plant into the ocean can forever alter it, and greatly impact an ecosytem. The health of the ocean can vary depending on how you look at it. Just being clean does not neccesarily make it healthy.

[usnmars 136]

Trust me the bottom of the gulf isnt bad. The gulf is almost back to pre spill levels. I take the samples and do the surveys, there isnt much there. The media doesnt mention the fact that oil naturally seeps from the ocean floor in places, and the gulf is capable of recovering through the natural degradation of crude oil. Crude is not like the processed oil you put in your car, it is composed mostly of organic carbon based compounds which will break down naturally and the remaining petroleum will disperse naturally. Now if i were to take a sample next to a natural seep area, guess what the oil will be high. But i am just the guy taking the samples and surveying the bottom so what do I know.

[GRIZ 3,369]

Which is mostly attributed to the billions spent to clean it up. I'm not trying to pick apart your post and find secret meanings behind what your saying, but it was pretty evident to me you were claiming it was back to normal. "According to the tree huggers it was supposed to take years before the area recovered. Yes, it was a mess for a little time but the ocean knows how to fix itself". It's still recovering, we're still spending billions to clean up and assess the area, so who is to say how long it will really take.

 

Nothing on this earth is adapted to deal with an oil spill of such magnitude, to say the ocean knows how to fix itself is a pretty unlogical statement. The ocean will deal with whatever you throw at, but to assume it will naturally over time go back to how it was is a false statement. The ocean will adapt and will recover, but to say the life in which inhabits the ocean will do the same is not true, costal ecosystems can be impacted forever, the loss of important species, and the degradation of wetlands and habitats that are already on the decline.

 

Hell just throwing an invasive plant into the ocean can forever alter it, and greatly impact an ecosytem. The health of the ocean can vary depending on how you look at it. Just being clean does not neccesarily make it healthy.

 

If you read usnmars's post #10 you will see the ocean can fix itself as "unlogical" as you seem to think my statement is. If you remember shortly after the well was capped they were sending aircraft out to find masses of oil on the surface and they had trobule finding any. As usnmars said, crude oil is an organic compound and there are bacteria in the ocean that will eat it up. probably more damage is done every year from oil deposits off the coast of California that seep through the ocean floor from the weight of the ocean pressing down on it. If they would let oil companies drill off the coast of CA there would be less pollution from crude oil there as the pressure on the deposits would be relieved.

 

Treehuggers said when the spill started in the Gulf it would be lifeless for 5-10 years. That is no where near the truth as is evident now.