Kiri Gillespie: Response to Rena grounding could have and should have been better

Rotting lamb patties were among the debris that washed up at Mount Maunganui from damaged containers several days after Rena's grounding. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

I still remember the stench of putrid lamb patties rotting on the beach at Tay St in Mount Maunganui.

The shrieks of eager seagulls with this unexpected buffet rang in my ears as I comprehended exactly what it was I was witnessing.

Stormy weather had dumped even more debris from Rena's stricken hull at Ōtaiti Astrolabe Reef on to our shores. Among the countless silver bags that had contained frozen patties were bits and pieces of a polystyrene-type substance strewn around the place.

This was seven days after the container ship crashed into the reef in the early hours of October 5, 2011.

That morning, our newsroom received a notification of the grounding but hardly any other information. At first, it was hard to know just how bad, or not, this situation was.

No one had even begun to talk about oil or containers - yet.

A photographer and I headed out in a plane. If ever there was any doubt regarding the severity of what had happened, it was swiftly put to bed.

Through the tiny plane windows, I could see Rena and her cargo perched awkwardly atop Ōtaiti. Oil was already leaching into the ocean, stretching towards the golden shores of Pāpāmoa.

This was bad.

Rena, pictured just hours after the container ship collided with Ōtaiti, Astrolabe Reef. Photo / NZME

As the photographer snapped and I filmed, I remember thinking: "Why isn't anyone trying to capture that before it hits?". I've since learned the oil booms on hand weren't designed for the open ocean and were basically redundant in any efforts to capture the oil.

A fat lot of good they were in Tauranga then – a port city effectively surrounded by the sea.

Maritime New Zealand says it is better prepared should something similar happen again. It's heartening, but I'm slightly saddened.

In my view, there should have been swifter action and communication among authorities in those days that followed.

I returned from that plane trip and called various councils and government agencies for answers but could not get anything definitive. The response was always that another party was responsible.

Meanwhile, the oil crept closer.

Granted, this was the first event of its kind in our waters and in modern times so, sure, there will be initial confusion. But these were golden hours I believe could have been crucial to the overall impact of Rena.

Oil from Rena can be seen in this photo of the ship, taken five days after the grounding. Photo / NZME

When black blobs of oil washed ashore a few days later, you could feel the heartbreak from people looking on aghast at their beloved but battered beach. After a while, the heartbreak turned to frustration and people took it upon themselves to clean up the oil.

I don't blame them. At that time, they couldn't see anyone else doing it.

I'm told there was plenty of talk and response already happening among authorities but this was not communicated well to the community. While authorities hashed their plans out in their offices, community members young and old were on the beaches getting the job done.

New Zealand had been caught out and it seemed to me that it was thanks to the thousands of volunteers that our beaches were saved when they were.

It was also fortunate Rena's owner and insurers didn't walk away from salvage efforts when they could have. Personally, I don't agree with them offering money to those who opposed leaving Rena's wreck on the reef, but that ship, unlike Rena, has sailed.

New Zealand's overall Rena response, or lack of, is a lesson I believe we desperately need to learn from.

Maritime New Zealand says it has.

I hope we never have to find out for sure.