WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Salvage teams working on the cargo vessel Rena, stranded off the coast of New Zealand, said Tuesday they've pumped out half the oil left on board.
Rena suffered "substantial structural failure" and has a large crack in its starboard side after striking a reef off the New Zealand coast in early October. As much as 2,000 barrels of oil leaked from the ship.
Bruce Anderson, salvage unit manager for responding agency Maritime New Zealand, said salvage teams removed half the oil from the ship, reaching their highest daily rate of removal Tuesday.
He urged caution, however, saying getting the remaining 358 tons of oil out of a submerged fuel tank on the starboard side presents a significant challenge.
A small spill of less than 10 tons -- about 73 barrels -- was released from Rena during the weekend and was breaking up naturally in the water, MNZ said. Rob Service, on-scene commander, said authorities were monitoring the spill but noted there hadn't been any significant releases from Rena since the weekend.
"We are continuing to model and remodel the movement of the remaining oil and where it might end up," he said in a statement. "If it does reach the shorelines, it will have been in the water for five or six days and will have broken down naturally quite a bit."
