Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Battle looms over plans to leave Rena

By Kiri Gillespie
Bay of Plenty Times·
18 Feb, 2013 10:18 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rena's owner and insurer faces a fight from local iwi over a proposal to leave the ship's remains on Astrolabe Reef.

But one fishing charter operator and diver supports the plan, saying leaving the wreck at sea would attract and nurture marine life.

The reaction follows the Swedish Club announcing it would seek resource consent to leave the wreck at sea, as long as it was safe for the public and supported the reef's future regeneration.

Captain John Owen, of the Swedish Club, said the proposal followed more than 16 months of salvage operations, costing more than $275 million, including technical assessments on the options for full and partial wreck removal.

Mr Owen said full wreck removal would considerably extend the period of the exclusion zone, involve greater destruction of the reef and present risks to workers in volatile and dangerous conditions.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The wreck would not pose a hazard to navigation and should not be a threat to the marine environment, so the further costs and risks associated with trying to remove it were not considered to be warranted, Mr Owen said.

But Motiti Island resident Rangi Butler said leaving Rena at sea was not an option for iwi.

Ms Butler said there was concern about future debris washing ashore from containers believed to be still inside Rena's hull.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Motiti is not in agreeance with leaving it there, not from day one ... it's not what they said they would do," Ms Butler said.

"The Maritime New Zealand order is for full wreck removal, and it can be removed. That is still our stance."

Ms Butler said the reef, known to Maori as Otaiti, had cultural and spiritual significance for iwi in and around the Bay of Plenty.

She said there would be strong iwi opposition to the proposal at planned community consultation meetings.

"They will have a fight on their hands," she said.

Mr Owen said the owners would seek further community feedback - including from local iwi and hapu, before a final decision was made.

Master mariner and representative for TMC Marine Consultants Captain Roger King told the Bay of Plenty Times full wreck removal would be "an immense job".

"We all want to take the stern section away as soon as possible but we are not going to hurt someone in the process to do it," Mr King said.

"Things get harder as things get deeper. Everything increases in size in terms of gear and the risk management becomes harder. Safety management decreases because you are in the marine environment and you can only control a few factors for so long," he said.

It was unlikely any floating debris remained inside the sunken containers, as every container they had found so far had been ruptured, Mr King said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A large hydraulic claw on a barge collected sunken debris, including wheels, wire, container bits, and aluminium ingots.

Once the debris was removed, scientists were expected to take reef samples which would then be tested for any contaminants.

Fishing charterer and diver Rus Hawkins said he was happy with the proposal.

Mr Hawkins said he would attend one of the consultation meetings to find out more information about the wreck's future but was excited at the possibility of it being left, he said.

"I'm the club captain for the Mount Maunganui Underwater Club and I know, diving-wise, I know we would love to see it there."

Mr Hawkins said such sites attracted and nurtured marine life and became attractive dive and fishing sites.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Owen said the programme for the rest of the year would focus on addressing contaminants, the removal of debris around the wreck and making it a safer environment for recreational diving.

Community consultation open days


Tuesday, February 26, from 4pm to 7pm at Club Mount Maunganui

Thursday, February 28, from 4 to 7pm at the Mount Surf Club



Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for the region tonight.

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:05 PM
Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

Tauranga's Young Grower to compete on national stage

02 Jul 09:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP