Salvors have made steady progress removing containers and debris from the Rena wreck and local beaches this week as the race against time continues.
The McDermott heavy-lift helicopter has removed loads weighing up to 2.5 tonnes from the wreck which threatens to slide further under water as the weight on board is removed.
A second helicopter completed eight lifts of paper and leather with a total of 475 containers now removed from the ship.
Meanwhile, more than 220 tonnes of container debris, including milk powder and recycled paper, was removed from Matakana Island in combined helicopter and barge operations. Eleven containers have been removed from the island, some of them empty, and others badly damaged.
Two 50-tonne hatch covers, popped off by the force of the sea pressure in the hull, were also lifted off by the crane barge, Smit Borneo.