Containership "Rena" aground on reef near Port of Tauranga

[Captain Ted]

Just some thoughts


Mike mentioned that MSC has a say how the vessel is run, Actually they do not, the route,
cargo and rotation but not the manning, upkeep etc of the vessel. This is usually done through the owners who usually employ manning agencies very often from the Philippines and often also from Poland/Ukraine/russia,former East block counties. Some manning agencies are really good some others are not so good. However, everybody aboard has to be STCW certified, which is a international training standard.
Someone mentioned only NZ/Australien crews, thats a good thinking, unfortunately not practicable, because for the salary of a Master on those ships another owner can sail half a crew. On top of that, often it is forgotten that EVERyBODY wants the cheapest possible prices at Wal-Mart and at the gas pump, that would be not possible with expensive crews. Think about, why seafaring nations like UK/Germany/US/AUS/NZ do not have significant fleets anymmore with their flags and their nationals, very easy because they can not compete international with the
sailors from other nations. All those countries allowed foreigners on their financed/subsidised vessels until the point that no nationals were anymore there. (Not the US)
On top of all that, as long as the human element is still on the ships accidents will happen.
Nobody cries about dozens of accidents ashore daily, but the moment a ship grounds it is not a accident. Of course there are situations where "accidents" could have been prevented, but nevertheless they will happen again, like it or not.
The problem nowadays is also, the Captain of the ship is usually arrested right away, for the sole reason to present to the world the guilty guy, like we have the "bad guy" already.
Remember the tanker ( ERIKA?) which sank off the spanish coast, the Master notified the authorities that he has a leak, he wanted to go into a port and repair/off load etc, instead they closed all ports,,dragged the ship away until it broke apart and created a real oil spill
by doing that. Who was arrested and in the media cruzified, the Capt, not the IDIOTS who refused to help and closed the ports.
Almost same situation about same time in the North Sea (Phallas ? was the name) the german authorities had inside misshaps and authority discussions until it was too late, but the Capt
who asked for help was then cruzified. He grounded close to Amrum I think tghere it was.
There is more to it then increase regulations and training standards, if the industrialised nations want cheap as possible goods they will have to live with the idea that those groundings
will happen now and then with foreign crews in their territorial waters.

btw  MSC = More Scrap Coming  is a know proverb in the shipping for that shipping line

[Ronald George Halliday]

Why not just remark standards of STCW 95 vary in Different countries around the world and are not the same as it is in europe. Blame culture= hang the man with the highest certificate. The cause of the problem sometimes gets away scot free. Things will only change when people in high places are not corrupted. Nice pictures Captain Ted.

[Captain Ted]

Hi Ronald

STCW is international standard, how far it is enforced by the IMO member states and those who ratified is another discussion worth. PSC,s (Port State Controls)are done in a lot of ports, MOU,s (Memoradum of Understanding, Paris MOU, Japan MOU, Vina del Mar etcetc) are done regularly. They,among other matter, control/check safety equipment, navigational equipment, ISPS and ISM (Safety and Security regulations)the only two things never really controled is qualification of crew because as long the crew has STCW compliance licenses everything is on paper ok. How the standard outlined in the STCW is enfored in the various countries to pass the tests to aquire the very same is a total different story.
 

[Ronald George Halliday]

Yes i am fully aware of your remarks, as i am ch officer on a small feeder ship in the english channel, and we see many times the qualities of people in charge on the bridge with their lack, or disregard to the rules. STCW 95 standards.

[Clydee]

UPDATE 20:51 Monday November 14, 2011 Source: ONE News
See http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/salvors-focus-rena-s-containers-4533419

The operation to lift the containers off the stricken cargo vessel Rena will begin in the next couple of days, Maritime New Zealand says.

A crane barge is now moored up at the stern of the ship which has been grounded on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty for six weeks.

MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Arthur Jobard said salvors will spend the next couple of days testing the Sea Tow 60's equipment before the recovery of the containers begins.

Jobard said the speed at which they are able to recover the containers relies on several different factors.

"This includes weather and how complex it proves to be to access the containers, many of which are badly damaged and in very precarious positions."

MNZ says working on the principle it can remove six containers a day from the vessel, it will take seven months to recover all the cargo.

Among the challenges the salvors face will be working out a way to safely decouple the containers, given that the ship is on a lean, and also an effective way to access the 816 containers that are held below deck.

Another larger crane barge is also on its way to help from Singapore, and is expected to arrive in Tauranga in December.

Meanwhile, the majority of the fuel onboard the Rena has now been pumped off and just 60 tonnes remains.

"We have special pumps and skimmers and all kind of equipment to deal with it but we'll use every method which is possible to get it out," Svitzer Salvage Expert Paul Van't-Hof said.

With no fresh oil spills and clean up efforts having been successful, it is hoped some of Tauranga's beaches may be clean enough to be opened tomorrow.

[john mccorquodale]

Further to previous her deficiencies when inspected at NZ were;

Fixed fire extinguishing installation
Maintenance of the ship and equipment
Obstruction/slipping, etc.
Propulsion main engine
Doors within main vertical zone
Covers (hatchway-, portable-, tarpaulins, etc.)
Gangway, accommodation ladder
Charts
Lighting
Safe means of access
Stowage of lifeboats
Emergency Fire Pump
Railing, cat walks
Other (radio)
Lifeboat inventory
Fire-dampers
Auxiliary engine

and six days previously in Aus.......

nautical publications
MF/HF radio installation
voyage data recorder (VDR)
operational readiness of life-saving appliances
lifeboats
operational readiness of life-saving appliances
electric equipment in general
electric equipment in general
other (machinery)
jacketed piping system for high-pressure fuel lines
15 PPM alarm arrangements
stowage of cargo
covers (hatchway-, portable-, tarpaulins, etc.)
fire prevention
rudder angle indicator
other (SOLAS operational)
maintenance of the ship and equipment

She looked reasonably well run until late 2010 when she changed owners (and I assume crew). After the new owners took over it was a rapid descent to notoriety. MSC are very culpable in this in that they set their own standards but we are all well aware that the profit driver can lead many into making gross errors of judgement.
What I want to know is why the Master left the ship? In my time as Master I would only have abandoned ship (having already evacuated non-essential personnel) when the water was lapping the bottom of the lifeboats. Similarly most of the Chief Engineers I sailed with would not have left the ship and would have assisted in the transfer of fuel etc. I am unaware if the Master was arrested and taken ashore but herein lies a legal quagmire in that the ship would therefore not have been abandoned and thus free to salvage. I ended my career as a ship captain because of the knee-jerk reaction of governments worldwide to 'bang-up' the Master, who may just be the person that is required for a speedy resolution. BUT this assumes that the Master is well trained and competent and we know that this is not always the case. Rant ends.....

[Sailerman]

Many up-to-date photo's of container removal shown in 'de Volkskrant' Netherlands 

[Clydee]

UPDATE 11:33am 25/11/2011
See http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/rena-crisis/6034895/More-dangerous-Rena-cargo-revealed

Includes
A further 21 containers on the grounded ship Rena have been found to hold goods classed as dangerous, officials say.
MNZ was investigating why the goods were not declared as required under maritime legislation and whether that constituted a breach of the law, Taylor said.

[Mike Cornwall]

Anyone who who works in the industry will not be surprised at that.
Freight rates for hazardous cargo are higher than normal, and therefore many shippers simply don't declare it.
I recall some years ago seeing an LCL container that had 11 types of hazardous cargo inside, of which at least 3 were non compatible.
Yet nothing was declared, it had been shipped as a normal box and stowed down below.

[Robbie]

The Singapore (IMO # 8213964) and the Smit Borneo (IMO # 8757348) will be arriving in Tauranga on Monday from Singapore. Once she gets here the Svitzer crew will stay onboard her until the job is done. the removal of the conatiners is going well and they are managing to move more containers per day then expected but once they shift their focus to the holds it will slow down as most of the holds are flooded. there was word she may need to be broken up on the reef to access the continaers in the holds. Dive teams have also been looking at the reef and implying the Rena may be lifted of pulled off the reef and towed into the harbour.

[Clydee]

UPDATE  4:47 PM Friday Dec 30, 2011 

Oil from the stricken ship Rena is continuing to wash ashore at popular holiday beaches.

Maritime New Zealand said a light sheen was this morning extending up to 2.5km from the container ship, which ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef near Tauranga in early October.

The foul weather battering most of the country today is working in favour of clean-up crews, with the wind and swells of up to 4m helping to break up the oil in the sea.

But it was also helping to bring more oil ashore, with further sightings today at Papamoa and Mt Maunganui beaches _ popular spots among the thousands of New Year's revellers who have descended on the Bay of Plenty.

Maritime New Zealand said clean-up crews would be working on both beaches today.

The oil has also had an impact on wildlife, with one newly-oiled penguin picked up today.

The penguin would be fed and stabilised before being taken to the Massey University wildlife recovery centre in Palmerston North.

Wildlife teams last night monitored penguin sites around Mt Maunganui, checking 37 birds, none of which were oiled.

The bad weather has also put a stop to container salvage work, with no salvors onboard the Rena today.

They are unlikely to return tomorrow because the unfavourable conditions look set to continue.

The crane ship Smit Borneo has been stood down and could be repositioned on the port side of the vessel when the weather improves. Other salvage vessels were using the break in operations to refuel at the Port of Tauranga.

The Bay of Plenty harbourmaster today reminded boaties that an exclusion zone of three nautical miles remained in place around the Rena.

Anyone found in the zone could be fined $200 or face prosecution.

They have also been reminded to take extra care around three anchoring sites being used to round up containers that have fallen off the Rena.

There were no containers in the area, but unlit buoys, ropes, chains and anchors could be hazards.

The sites were east of Motuotau Island, also known as Rabbit Island, the western side of Motiti Island and off the coast of Papamoa Beach.

Boaties should look out for response vessels, debris, oil or containers.

- APNZ

[PHa]

Good morning!

RENA split in two parts, MNZ reported.

More information with links and photos (sorry, but in german language) on forum-schiff.de

Link: http://forum-schiff.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23&p=69211#p69211

and in english language: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776357

regards Peter