The Rena has split

January 8th, 2012 at 12:31 pm by David Farrar

This photo by Maritime NZ, at the Herald, shows that the Rena has finally split in two.

Inevitably it means more containers will be lost at sea, but not necessarily all the remaining ones. It looks like they may be able to continue moving the containers off, once the weather improves. However it will be much riskier I suspect.

You look at that photo, and think that is not a place you would want to be.

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9 Responses to “The Rena has split”

  1. Johnboy (10,749) Says:

    As soon as they started to unload the stern of the Rena it was obvious it would break in half. I suspect it is part of the plan and the arse end will be beached at say Papamoa to be dismantled in more salubrious conditions, if it doesn’t sink first. What ever the salvors are doing they are attempting not to frighten the horses. :)

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  2. Nostalgia-NZ (3,513) Says:

    I think it was obvious the was going to break off from the start, the crack appeared because the after end was free of the reef and while it moved the forward end would not resulting in the fracture. I recall at one point they had tugs on standby to haul the aft end closer to shore if it came adrift.
    Regardless, trust that the minimal amounts of oil left don’t cause a problem.
    I’m sure I was watching somebody on TV last night talking about the strength of the ship in holding together.

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  3. Dave Mann (988) Says:

    The Herald reports that the two pieces are 30 metres apart

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10777406

    …. but the photos show that the true figure is approximately 3 metres. Dear old granny…. she never lets the facts get in the way of a good headline :)

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  4. Keeping Stock (8,809) Says:

    I know it’s a serious business, but couldn’t resist posting this:

    http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/2012/01/tweet-of-day.html

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  5. Bed Rater (239) Says:

    WHATEVER. Ships crash and cargo is lost ALL THE TIME.

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  6. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    Dave – I saw something similar I think on TVNZ – the problem with breaking news but using archive images.

    KS – I get the joke, but one day I might bother to find out what Kardashian is, hear a bit about it in passing but have no idea what it’s about. I’ve presumed it’s just a part of the copius ‘celebrity’ interadvert filler machine. Sort of an alternate Lohan (and I have no idea what her claim to fame is either).

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  7. cha (2,339) Says:

    The Rena has a 32 metre beam and photos show the starboard of the bow section aligned with the port side of the stern section so I’d say that relative to the other one section has moved at least 30 metres.

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  8. Pete George (17,596) Says:

    This video shows the extent of the separation.

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  9. side show bob (3,660) Says:

    I’m part of the coast guard on the wast coast. First rule, the sea takes no prisoners . The Rena had an amazing run of luck, I doubt she would have lasted more then five days here.
    .

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