The first steel fore sections cut & removed from 'Rena', with the Bell 214 heavy-lift helicopter completing 14 separate lifts to the barge Kapua.
Salvage (Resolve Marine)
• The barge made its first landing in Tauranga with an estimated 40 tonnes of steel, which included deck equipment and pieces of winches from the fo’c’sle.
• Work is continuing with the modifications to the helicopter landing platform, and pre-cutting of upper decks, fo’c’sle deck, and equipment.
• Helicopter-to-barge transfers will continue next week.
Braemar/Unimar Recovery Operations
• Braemar Howells/Unimar teams heading out to sea to attempt to recover more Rena containers from the seabed – at depths greater than 50 metres.
• Since last week eight containers have been recovered. All had been rigged by a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
• The recovery of those eight containers brings the total number of containers retrieved to 977. (There were 1368 containers on board).
• Clean-up work continues on beaches. Clean-up teams are also working in the Coromandel.
• Debris recovery using a Unimar barge is also continuing at sea around the Rena where container flotsam and scrap steel has been collected this week.
The oil spill response has been reduced from a Tier 3, or national level, to Tier 2, or regional level, response. Any queries about the oil spill response should now be directed to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.