One year since the Rena grounding

Friday's Bay of Plenty Times' print edition includes a special souvenir anniversary publication to remember the day that the container ship MV Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef, at 2.14am on October 5, 2011, just 12 nautical miles of the coast of Mount Maunganui.

The oil spill that followed has been described as New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.

Toxic mess, containers and debris washed up and onto the beach for weeks.

Experts tried to work out how to clean up the oil slick from the crippled container ship after dispersal efforts failed and dead wildlife were found.

Rena's debris washed up along Mauao's rocky shoreline, and the beach was a mess.

But soon the community came together, and people quickly rallied to clean up their beach.

Thousands of volunteers registered to assist beach clean-up operations.

Filmmakers Romain Lesiuk & Yann Hilaire traveled from France to Tauranga to film and document the story of the 8000 volunteers who helped clean up after the Rena oil spill. Rena - Black Tide: a tribute to all the volunteers.

Monster swells pounded the Western Bay coastline - causing containers to fall from Rena and prompting officials to warn people to stay off the water.

Readers were asked in an online poll what worried them the most. We also asked readers to send us their photos, which is something you can still do.

Today, we look back… and forward.

Please let us know how the Rena grounding and its aftermath has affected you. Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor (200 words max, and please inlcude your name).

The video footage below shows what some other locals think.

Earlier raw video of oil spill and the stricken ship as seen from the air can be found here.