WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Responders working to remove oil from a vessel grounded off the New Zealand coast had to change strategies because of the weather, an official said.
As much as 2,000 barrels of oil leaked from cargo vessel Rena after it struck a reef in the Bay of Plenty in early October. Rough seas hampered salvage operations and Maritime New Zealand, the responding agency, this week was forced to postpone efforts on the ship after waves caused further damage.
Divers were trying to create a water-tight barrier around a fuel tank submerged on the damaged starboard side of Rena but the barrier was destroyed by storms and high waves this week.
Bruce Anderson, salvage unit manager for MNZ, said teams were working to pump water into the submerged tank to raise the oil to the top of the ship to get it removed.
Anderson said this method would take a while but it was the best course of action given intermittent storms in the area.
"The safety of the salvors is always the priority and the destruction of the coffer dam really highlights how challenging the situation they are working in is," he said in a statement.
